Japan Shares Tipped To Open To The Upside

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Wednesday ended the brutal two-day losing streak in which it had plummeted almost 1,750 points or 3.6 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 47,670-point plateau and it may see additional support on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is murky amid rising tensions between the world's two largest economies. The European markets were mostly lower and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Wednesday with bargain hunting across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index surged 825.35 points or 1.76 percent to finish at 47,672.67 after trading between 46,910.83 and 47,774.83. Among the actives, Nissan Motor added 0.43 percent, while Mazda Motor accelerated 3.97 percent, Toyota Motor strengthened 1.46 percent, Honda Motor perked 0.19 percent, Softbank Group soared 5.10 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 2.23 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 1.27 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial jumped 1.85 percent, Mitsubishi Electric improved 3.85 percent, Sony Group gained 0.74 percent, Panasonic Holdings rose 0.42 percent and Hitachi surged 5.70 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but slumped midday and finished mixed.

The Dow dipped 17.15 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 46,253.31, while the NASDAQ jumped 148.38 points or 0.66 percent to end at 22,670.08 and the S&P 500 added 26.75 points or 0.40 percent to close at 6,671.06.

The continued volatility on Wall Street came as traders weighed upbeat earnings news against concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions and lingering worries about valuations.

In U.S. economic news, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said New York manufacturing activity has seen a significant turnaround in October. Also, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book said economic activity in the U.S. has shown little change since early September.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday following the rapid escalation of friction between the U.S. and China, while oversupply concerns also loom. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.33 or 0.56 percent at $58.37 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will see August numbers for core machinery orders later this morning, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.5 percent on month and 4.8 percent on year following the 4.6 percent monthly decline and the 4.9 percent yearly gain.