Higher Open Called For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market bounced higher again on Wednesday, one session after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 200 points or 0.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 now rests just above the 42,520-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside, with strength likely from the oil and technology sectors. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to also move to the upside.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Wednesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index improved 125.87 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 42,520.27 after trading between 42,270.18 and 42,628.04. Among the actives, Nissan Motor perked 0.09 percent, while Mazda Motor fell 0.35 percent, Toyota Motor rose 0.21 percent, Honda Motor shed 0.48 percent, Softbank Group advanced 0.98 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial dropped 0.99 percent, Mizuho Financial slipped 0.29 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial sank 0.85 percent, Mitsubishi Electric lost 0.41 percent, Sony Group was up 0.02 percent, Panasonic Holdings climbed 1.09 percent and Hitachi eased 0.12 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Wednesday but moved largely to the upside throughout the day and ended with modest gains.

The Dow climbed 147.16 points or 0.32 percent to finish at 45,565.23, while the NASDAQ added 45.87 points or 0.21 percent to close at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 rose 15.46 points or 0.24 percent to end at a record 6,481.40.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA). After the markets closed, NVIDIA reported earnings that increased from the same period last year and beat estimates.

Traders were also reluctant to make big moves ahead of Friday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending for July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 87.2 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

Crude oil surged on Wednesday after U.S. crude and gasoline inventories fell more than expected last week. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $0.83 or 1.33 percent at $64.08 per barrel.