Japan Stock Market May Test Resistance At 38,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market on Wednesday halted the three-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 1,000 points or 2.8 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 37,750-point plateau and it may extend its gains on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is slightly positive on a slightly improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were slightly higher and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the automobile producers.

For the day, the index jumped 300.64 points or 0.80 percent to finish at 37,747.45 after trading between 37,672.47 and 37,868.42.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor skidded 1.04 percent, while Mazda Motor dropped 0.90 percent, Toyota Motor accelerated 1.85 percent, Honda Motor eased 0.11 percent, Softbank Group climbed 1.07 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial perked 0.18 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.84 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial improved 0.80 percent, Mitsubishi Electric was up 0.13 percent, Sony Group rose 0.39 percent, Panasonic Holdings rallied 1.51 percent and Hitachi jumped 1.55 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday but gave back almost off of their gains to finish mixed and flat.

The Dow dropped 91.90 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 42,427.74, while the NASDAQ gained 61.53 points or 0.32 percent to close at 19,460.49 and the S&P 500 perked 0.44 points or 0.01 percent to end at 5,970.81.

The lackluster performance followed the release of some weaker than expected U.S. economic data. While the data raised concerns about the strength of the economy, it also generated some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

In economic news, payroll processor ADP reported much weaker than expected private sector job growth in May. Also, the Institute for Supply Management said service sector activity in the U.S. unexpectedly contracted in May.

However, the Fed is still widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 95.6 percent chance the central bank will leave rates unchanged.

Crude oil futures moved to the downside during trading on Wednesday, reflecting easing supply concerns as rains slowed the growth of blazes that had disrupted Canadian crude production. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell $0.56 or 0 .9 percent to $62.85 a barrel.