Japan Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved higher in two straight sessions, advancing more than 175 points or 0.4 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 38,960-point plateau although it may spin its wheels on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft thanks to concerns over the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly lower and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Wednesday following gains from the financials, weakness from the automobile producers and a mixed bag from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index improved 162.53 points or 0.42 percent to finish at 38,963.70 after trading between 38,794.24 and 39,102.65.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor plunged 5.88 percent, while Mazda Motor tumbled 1.96 percent, Toyota Motor dropped 0.90 percent, Honda Motor retreated 1.34 percent, Softbank Group rallied 3.79 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.32 percent, Mizuho Financial perked 0.17 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed 1.08 percent, Mitsubishi Electric advanced 0.90 percent, Sony Group slumped 1.66 percent, Panasonic Holdings spiked 2.58 percent and Hitachi was up 0.05 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is uninspired as the major averages opened lower and largely stayed that way, although the NASDAQ peeked up into the green by the close.

The Dow dropped 225.09 points or 0.50 percent to finish at 44,368.56, while the NASDAQ perked 6.10 points or 0.03 percent to close at 19,649.95 and the S&P 500 lost 16.53 points or 0.27 percent to end at 6,051.97.

The early sell-off on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased by more than expected in January.

The hotter than expected inflation data increased speculation the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates on hold for a prolonged period.

Oil prices fell sharply on Wednesday, weighed down by data showing a larger than expected increase in U.S. crude inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled lower by $1.95 or about 2.66 percent at $71.37 a barrel, falling after three successive days of gains.