Japan Bourse May Reclaim 68,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market rebounded on Tuesday, one day after ending the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced almost 1,750 points or 2.6 precent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 67,750-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index improved 500.77 points or 0.74 percent to finish at 67,743.50 after trading between 66,268.60 and 67,800.18.

The lead from Wall Street is fairly upbeat as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday but all managed to be in the green by the day's end.

The Dow rose 10.02 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 52,508.66, while the NASDAQ jumped 233.83 points or 0.90 percent to close at 26,107.01 and the S&P 500 collected 28.54 points or 0.38 percent to end at 7,543.88.

The strength on Wall Street followed the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. fell more than expected in June.

The weaker-than-expected inflation data helped ease recent concerns about the outlook for inflation and the possibility of higher interest rates.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East and a rebound in oil prices limited the upside.

Crude oil prices moved higher again on Tuesday amid concerns about the escalating conflict between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $0.94 or 1.2 percent to $79.08 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release May figures for core machinery orders and for its tertiary industry activity index later today. Core machinery orders are expected to fall 4.2 percent on month and climb 12.9 percent on year after gaining 8.7 percent on month and 15.6 percent on year in April. The tertiary industry index was a score of 10.6 in April.