Japan Bourse May Reverse Wednesday's Losses

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market headed south again on Wednesday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had dropped almost 650 points or 1.4 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 41,940-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology shares expected to lead the way. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets also figure to move to the upside.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index sank 371.60 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 41,938.89 after trading between 41,863.20 and 42,293.54. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 1.39 percent, while Mazda Motor shed 0.48 percent, Toyota Motor lost 0.61 percent, Honda Motor dropped 0.87 percent, Softbank Group plummeted 5.27 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial tanked 3.15 percent, Mizuho Financial stumbled 3.35 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial plunged 3.16 percent, Mitsubishi Electric slumped 1.25 percent, Sony Group sank 0.60 percent, Panasonic Holdings advanced 0.83 percent and Hitachi tumbled 3.48 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed as the major averages opened on opposite sides of the line and finished the same way.

The Dow slipped 24.58 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 45,271.23, while the NASDAQ rallied 218.10 points or 1.02 percent to end at 21,497.73 and the S&P 500 added 32.72 points or 0.51 percent to close at 6,448.26.

The notable rebound by the NASDAQ followed a surge by shares of Alphabet (GOOGL), which rallied after a federal judge ruled the company will avoid the most severe consequences in a landmark antitrust case.

The strength on Wall Street also came after the Labor Department released a report showing job openings in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in 10 months in July.

While the data provides further signs of softening labor market conditions, the report has also increased confidence that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates later this month.

Crude oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday amid increasing concerns of oversupply due to reported plans by OPEC to boost output at its upcoming meeting on Sunday. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $1.65 or 2.52 percent at $63.94 per barrel.