Japan Stock Market Has Positive Lead For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market had moved higher in six consecutive sessions, advancing more than 3,000 points or 7.3 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 43,270-point plateau and it's tipped to open in the green again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on continued optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to at least open in similar fashion, although profit taking may be in order later in the day.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher again on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index improved 556.50 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 43,274.67 after trading between 43,008.20 and 43,451.46.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor slumped 1.16 percent, while Mazda Motor sank 0.83 percent, Toyota Motor improved 0.70 percent, Honda Motor fell 0.27 percent, Softbank Group rose 0.30 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial perked 0.02 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.13 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial added 0.81 percent, Mitsubishi Electric climbed 1.06 percent, Sony Group soared 3.46 percent, Panasonic Holdings advanced 1.01 percent and Hitachi added 0.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and largely spent the day in positive territory.

The Dow surged 463.66 points or 1.04 percent to finish at 44,922.27, while the NASDAQ added 31.24 points or 0.14 percent to close at a record 21,713.14 and the S&P 500 rose 20.82 points or 0.32 percent to end at 6,466.58, also a record.

The early strength on Wall Street came as stocks continued to benefit from optimism about an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve following Tuesday's consumer price inflation data.

With the consumer price inflation data largely coming in line with economist estimates, the Fed is widely expected to lower rates by a least a quarter point next month.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 93.8 percent chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in September.

Crude oil prices fell on Wednesday after the International Energy Agency projected oversupply in the market this year due to surging supply from oil producers. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery was down $0.55 or 0.87 percent at $62.62 per barrel.