Japan Stock Market May See Renewed Support

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market on Tuesday halted the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 200 points or 0.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 now rests just beneath the 42,400-point plateau although it's expected to open in the green on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with tech shares likely to rise ahead of key earnings news later in the day. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figures to follow the latter lead. The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers. For the day, the index slumped 413.42 points or 0.97 percent to finish at 42,394.40 after trading between 42,137.62 and 42,703.27. Among the actives, Nissan Motor plummeted 6.25 percent, while Mazda Motor added 0.40 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.41 percent, Honda Motor tumbled 1.71 percent, Softbank Group dropped 0.91 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial sank 0.72 percent, Mizuho Financial shed 0.45 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial skidded 1.01 percent, Mitsubishi Electric tumbled 1.91 percent, Sony Group declined 1.87 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 1.11 percent and Hitachi contracted 1.63 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages were flat for much of Tuesday before a late push nudged them up into the green at the close.

The Dow gained 135.60 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 45,418.07, while the NASDAQ added 94.98 points or 0.44 percent to close at 21,544.27 and the S&P 500 rose 26.62 points or 0.41 percent to end at 6,465.94.

The choppy trading on Wall Street comes as traders seem reluctant to make significant moves ahead of earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader due to report its second quarter results later today. Traders are also keeping an eye on the latest developments in Washington after President Donald Trump said he is removing Fed Governor Lisa Cook from her position. Trump accused her of making false statements on one or more mortgage agreements.

Meanwhile, Trump has threatened to impose "substantial additional tariffs" on countries that do not remove digital taxes and related regulations that harm U.S. tech companies.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower on Tuesday, reflecting concerns about erratic U.S. trade policies. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery tumbled $1.55 or 2.4 percent to $63.25 a barrel.