Japan Bourse May Extend Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved higher in two of three trading days since the end of the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 650 points or 1.4 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 42,580-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index rallied 641.38 points or 1.53 percent to finish at 42,580.27 after trading between 42,066.59 and 42,608.80. Among the actives, Nissan Motor retreated 1.40 percent, while Mazda Motor accelerated 2.56 percent, Toyota Motor jumped 1.88 percent, Honda Motor and Mitsubishi Electric both climbed 1.09 percent, Softbank Group surged 6.45 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 2.14 percent, Mizuho Financial rallied 2.61 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial spiked 2.99 percent, Sony Group improved 2.88 percent, Panasonic Holdings shed 0.40 percent and Hitachi perked 0.10 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and climbed steadily higher throughout the day, finishing at session high.

The Dow rallied 350.06 points or 0.77 percent to finish at 45,621.29, while the NASDAQ jumped 209.97 points or 0.98 percent to end at 21,707.69 and the S&P 500 gained 53.82 points or 0.83 percent to close at 6,502.08.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as traders digested the latest U.S. economic data, including a report from payroll processor ADP showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of August.

The Labor Department also released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose by more than expected last week.

While the reports add to recent signs of weakness in the labor market, the data has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices slumped on Thursday on rising oversupply concerns as OPEC plans to hike output. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.63 or 0.98 percent at $63.34 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release July figures for household spending later this morning. Spending is expected to rise 1.3 percent on month and 2.2 percent on year after sinking 5.2 percent on month and climbing 1.3 percent on year in June. Japan also will see July results for its leading and coincident indexes; in June, they were up 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent on month, respectively.