Japan Bourse Tipped To Return From Break To The Upside

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long holiday weekend, the Japanese stock market ended the two-day slide in which it had tumbled more than 1,200 points or 2 percent. The Nikkei now sits just above the 59,510-point plateau and it may pick up steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is positive on hopes for an end to hostilities in the Middle East. The European and U.S. markets were sharply higher and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Friday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks, while the automobile producers were weak.

For the day, the index added 228.20 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 59,513.12 after trading between 59,263.50 and 59,706.70. Among the actives, Nissan Motor retreated 1.49 percent, while Mazda Motor lost 0.30 percent, Toyota Motor sank 0.76 percent, Honda Motor fell 0.32 percent, Softbank Group soared 3.93 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial shed 0.67 percent, Mizuho Financial dipped 0.27 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 0.53 percent, Mitsubishi Electric tanked 2.57 percent, Sony Group added 0.45 percent, Panasonic Holdings rallied 3.78 percent and Hitachi tumbled 1.78 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is strong as the major averages opened higher on Wednesday and continued to pick up steam as the day progressed, ending at session highs.

The Dow spiked 612.34 points or 1.24 percent to finish at 49,910.59, while the NASDAQ rallied 512.82 points or 2.02 percent to end at 25,838.94 and the S&P 500 jumped 105.90 points or 1.46 percent to close at 7,365.12.

The rally on Wall Street came amid optimism about an end to the conflict in the Middle East after reports said the White House believes it's getting close to an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum of understanding.

Adding to the optimism about a peace deal, President Donald Trump said the U.S. would pause its efforts to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz to see whether or not the agreement can be finalized and signed.

On the U.S. economic front, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. jumped more than expected in April.

Crude oil prices went into freefall after Trump indicated the U.S. and Iran may reach a deal soon. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $7.83 or 7.66 percent at $94.44 per barrel.

Closer to home, the Bank of Japan will release the minutes from its March 18-19 monetary policy meeting this morning. At the meeting, the BoJ maintained its interest rate at around 0.75 percent, citing risks to the inflation outlook - especially to crude oil - due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Japan also will see April data for its monetary base, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 10.5 percent on year following the 11.6 percent drop in March.