Japan Bourse May Extend Wednesday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market inched barely higher again on Wednesday, one day after snapping the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 5,350 points or 8 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just shy of the 65,000-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, thanks mostly to easing oil prices. The European markets were mixed and little changed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index perked 3.32 points or 0.01 percent to finish at the daily low of 64,999.41 after peaking early at 66,428.81. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 2.55 percent, while Mazda Motor strengthened 1.59 percent, Toyota Motor shed 0.46 percent, Honda Motor climbed 1.03 percent, Softbank Group plummeted 7.26 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial dropped 0.98 percent, Mizuho Financial tumbled 1.93 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial tanked 1.90 percent, Mitsubishi Electric lost 0.60 percent, Sony Group sank 0.65 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 1.05 percent and Hitachi stumbled 1.90 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mildly positive as the major averages spent much of the day bouncing back and forth across the line before ending little changed with a slight upside bias - but enough for all three to hit record closing highs..

The Dow climbed 182.60 points or 0.36 percent to finish at 50,644.28, while the NASDAQ added 18.55 points or 0.07 percent to close at 26,674.73 and the S&P 500 perked 1.24 points or 0.02 percent to end at 7,520.36.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets following recent strength, while optimism about an eventual end to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues weigh on oil prices.

Crude oil prices plummeted on Wednesday as investors continue to anticipate a potential U.S.-Iran agreement, despite the hard line from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery was down $5.05 or 5.38 percent at $88.84 per barrel.

Traders may also have been somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data later today, including the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Closer to home, Japan will provide March numbers for housing starts later today, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 15.5 percent on year following the 29.3 percent decline in the previous month.