Japan Shares May Be Stuck In Neutral On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, collecting more than 160 points or 0.3 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 50,650-point plateau although it may run out of steam on Wednesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests little movement ahead of the FOMC rate decision later today. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and little changed and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished slightly higher again on Tuesday following gains from the automobile producers, losses from the financials and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.

For the day, the index rose 73.20 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 50,655,10 after trading between 50,417.11 and 50,793.69. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 3.12 percent, while Mazda Motor advanced 0.85 percent, Toyota Motor rose 0.20 percent, Honda Motor fell 0.23 percent, Softbank Group improved 0.78 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial shed 0.50 percent, Mizuho Financial lost 0.32 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial slumped 1.20 percent, Mitsubishi Electric sank 0.61 percent, Sony Group perked 0.14 percent, Panasonic Holdings jumped 1.51 percent and Hitachi was down 0.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street provides little clarity as the major averages opened mixed and fairly flat and stayed that way through the session.

The Dow dropped 179.03 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 47,560.29, while the NASDAQ rose 30.58 points or 0.13 percent to close at 23,576.49 and the S&P 500 eased 6.00 points or 0.09 percent to end at 6,840.51.

Traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later today. While the Fed is widely expected to lower interest rates by another quarter point, there is considerable uncertainty about the longer-term outlook for rates.

Traders are likely to pay close attention to the wording of the Fed's accompanying statement as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting press conference for clues about the likelihood of further rate cuts.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. edged slightly higher in October.

Crude oil prices slumped on Tuesday as Iraq resumed crude flow from Lukoil's West Qurna oil fields while the U.S. dollar gained ground after job data from the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was down $0.66 or 1.12 percent at $58.22 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will see November figures for producer prices later this morning, with forecasts suggesting no change at 0.4 percent on month and 2.7 percent on year.