Japan Stock Market May Extend Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market has finished lower in three straight sessions, shedding more than 2,550 points or 5.2 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now rests just above the 48,700-point plateau and it's expected to open under water again on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on persistent concerns about an AI bubble. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses also figure to open to the downside.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage in all sectors, especially the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index plunged 1,620.93 points or 3.22 percent to finish at 48,702.98 after trading between 48,661.52 and 49,971.55. Among the actives, Nissan Motor stumbled 3.78 percent, while Mazda Motor plunged 4.13 percent, Toyota Motor surrendered 2.89 percent, Honda Motor retreated 1.68 percent, Softbank Group plummeted 7.47 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial tumbled 3.36 percent, Mizuho Financial tanked 4.54 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial cratered 3.73 percent, Mitsubishi Electric plunged 4.98 percent, Sony Group dropped 3.06 percent, Panasonic Holdings sank 2.30 percent and Hitachi crashed 6.87 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened in the red and remained under water throughout the trading day.

The Dow plunged 498.50 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 46,091.74, while the NASDAQ stumbled 275.23 points or 1.21 percent to close at 22,432.85 and the S&P 500 sank 55.09 points or 0.83 percent to end at 6,617.32.

Weakness among technology stocks continued to weigh on Wall Street amid an extended decline by market leader and AI darling Nvidia (NVDA) as traders look ahead to the release of the chipmaker's quarterly results later today.

The strength of Nvidia's results and its guidance could have a significant impact on the markets amid recent concerns about an AI bubble.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department released a report showing a significant rebound by new orders for U.S. manufactured goods in the month of August.

Crude oil prices soared on Tuesday as the end of the U.S. government shutdown has accelerated expectations of brisk demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $0.90 or 1.49 percent at $60.80 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release October figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to slip 0.7 percent on year after rising 3.3 percent in September. Exports are called higher by an annual 1.1 percent, easing from 4.2 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is seen at 280.0 billion yen following the 234.6 billion yen shortfall a month earlier.

Japan also will see September data for core machinery orders, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 2.4 percent on month and 5.4 percent on year. That follows the 0.9 percent monthly decline and the 1.6 percent yearly increase in August.