Japan Stock Market May Be Stuck In Neutral On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing almost 50 points or 0.2 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 39,810-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to ongoing tariff concerns. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were closed for the July 4 holiday, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.

The Nikkei finished slightly higher on Friday following gains from the financials, weakness from the automobile producers and a mixed picture from the technology companies.

For the day, the index rose 24.98 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 39,810.88 after trading between 39,693.40 and 40,012.66.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor stumbled 2.15 percent, while Mazda Motor retreated 1.44 percent, Toyota Motor skidded 1.08 percent, Honda Motor shed 0.45 percent, Softbank Group collected 0.47 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial strengthened 1.46 percent, Mizuho Financial rallied 1.48 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial and Sony Group both improved 0.85 percent, Mitsubishi Electric advanced 0.95 percent, Panasonic Holdings sank 0.43 percent and Hitachi slumped 1.28 percent.

There is no lead from Wall Street, but the European stock markets were down amid concerns about U.S. tariffs.

With the July 9 deadline to strike deals with the U.S. just a few days away, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that his government will send letters to trading partners outlining unilateral tariffs that will take effect on August 1.

The EU, which is pushing for an agreement in principle ahead of July 9, has acknowledged that a comprehensive deal is unlikely to be reached by the deadline.

There is also concern over Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill," which will add at least $3.3 trillion to the country's already-mammoth national debt.

Crude oil prices slumped on Friday on easing geopolitical concerns in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.51 or 0.76 percent to finish at $66.49 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will see preliminary May results for its leading and coincident indexes later today; in April, the leading index was down 3.4 percent on month, while the coincident was up 0.2 percent.