Japan Shares May Find Traction On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, tumbling almost 1,000 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 37,450-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for tariffs and the economy. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished barely lower on Tuesday as the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers ended mostly in the red.

For the day, the index eased 23.86 points or 0.06 percent to finish at the daily low of 37,446.81 after peaking at 37,729.45.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor perked 0.08 percent, while Mazda Motor and Panasonic Holdings both sank 0.76 percent, Toyota Motor shed 0.59 percent, Honda Motor dropped 0.94 percent, Softbank Group rose 0.30 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial lost 0.65 percent, Mizuho Financial fell 0.45 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial slumped 0.55 percent, Mitsubishi Electric rallied 3.33 percent, Sony Group advanced 0.84 percent and Hitachi retreated 1.21 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages shook off early weakness on Tuesday, climbing steadily higher to end near session highs.

The Dow rallied 214.16 points or 0.51 percent to finish at 42,519.64, while the NASDAQ jumped 156.34 points or 0.81 percent to close at 19,398.96 and the S&P 500 added 34.43 points or 0.58 percent to end at 5,970.37.

The continued strength on Wall Street came following the release of a Labor Department report showing an unexpected increase by job openings in the U.S. in the month of April.

Meanwhile, traders continued to await further developments on the trade front a month ahead of the expiration of President Donald Trump's 90-day tariff pause.

While tensions between the U.S. and China have seemingly risen in recent days, traders appear to remain generally optimistic about trade deals being reached.

The price of crude oil showed another strong move to the upside during trading on Tuesday amid ongoing concerns about supply due to escalating geopolitical tensions and stuttering U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery jumped $0.89 or 1.4 percent to $63.41 a barrel.