Japan Shares May Find Traction On Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has tracked lower in three straight sessions, sinking more than 1,850 points or 3.5 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just below the 51,900-point plateau although it's due for support on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with bargain hunting likely offset by oil prices and war concerns. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

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

For the day, the index plunged 1,487.22 points or 2.79 percent to finish at 51,885.85 after trading between 50,566.99 and 52,054.68. Among the actives, Nissan Motor surrendered 3.76 percent, while Mazda Motor crashed 4.76 percent, Toyota Motor plunged 3.99 percent, Honda Motor retreated 2.64 percent, Softbank Group cratered 6.32 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial declined 2.06 percent, Mizuho Financial contracted 2.73 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial skidded 2.21 percent, Mitsubishi Electric dropped 4.96 percent, Sony Group dipped 0.28 percent, Panasonic Holdings sank 1.79 percent and Hitachi plummeted 3.43 percent.

The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened higher on Monday but faded as the day progressed and ended mixed.

The Dow added 49.50 points or 0.11 percent to finish at 45,216.14, while the NASDAQ slumped 153.72 points or 0.73 percent to end at 20,794.64 and the S&P 500 sank 25.13 points or 0.39 percent to close at 6,343.72.

Bargain hunting contributed to the initial strength on Wall Street, as some traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness.

Optimistic comments from President Donald Trump about the war in the Middle East also generated some early buying interest - but that optimism was short-lived after Trump threatened Iran with obliteration.

Buying interest waned over the course of the session, however, as the price of crude oil saw further upside amid ongoing concerns about the impact of the Middle East war.

Crude oil prices catapulted on Monday as the gulf region remains enveloped in war tension after the U.S. sends more soldiers to the area as Trump warned Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $3.05 or 3.06 percent at $102.69 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan is scheduled to release a batch of data today, including February figures for unemployment, industrial production, retail sales, construction orders and housing stars, plus March data for Tokyo area consumer prices.

The jobless rate (1.8 percent) and the jobs/applicant ratio (1.18) are expected to be unchanged, while industrial production is expected to slip 2.0 percent on month after rising 4.3 percent in January.

Retail sales are seen higher by 0.9 percent on year, easing from 1.8 percent in the previous month. Construction orders were up 5.7 percent on year in January and housing starts slipped an annual 0.4 percent.