Japan Bourse May Give Up Support At 61,000 Points

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, plunging almost 1,800 points or 6 percent in that span. The Nikkei sits just above the 61,400-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on surging oil prices, ambiguity about the conflict in the Middle East and concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the automobile producers were strong.

For the day, the index tumbled 1,244.76 points or 1.99 percent to finish at 61,409.29 after trading between 60,937.30 and 63,235.77. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 2.54 percent, while Mazda Motor spiked 2.25 percent, Toyota Motor rallied 2.56 percent, Honda Motor surged 8.33 percent, Softbank Group shed 0.43 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial climbed 1.81 percent, Mizuho Financial skidded 1.03 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 0.48 percent, Mitsubishi Electric fell 0.31 percent, Sony Group soared 3.83 percent, Panasonic Holdings tanked 2.49 percent and Hitachi jumped 3.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is bleak as the major averages opened lower on Friday and remained in the red throughout the trading day, ending ta session lows.

The Dow tumbled 537.33 points or 1.07 percent to finish at 49,526.17, while the NASDAQ plunged 410.05 points or 1.54 percent to close at 26,225.14 and the S&P 500 sank 92.74 points or 1.24 percent to end at 7,408.50.

For the week, the S&P perked 0.1 percent, while the NASDAQ eased 0.1 percent and the Dow slipped 0.2 percent.

The sell-off on Wall Street reflected profit taking following recent strength in the markets, which lifted the NASDAQ and S&P 500 to record highs, with technology shares leading the markets lower.

A sharp increase in treasury yields also weighed on the markets, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note surging to its highest levels in almost a year after recent data has shown significant accelerations in the pace of consumer and producer price inflation, leading to concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

Crude oil prices surged on Friday after the U.S.-China summit ended with no announcement of Chinese intervention to end the gulf war, leaving the Strait of Hormuz blockade in place. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was up $4.18 or 4.13 percent at $105.35 per barrel.