Japan Shares May Run Out Of Steam On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has climbed higher in three straight sessions, improving almost 725 points or 1.5 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 45,750-point plateau although the rally may stall on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft ahead of the release of key inflation data from the United States. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index climbed 124.62 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 45,754.93 after trading between 45,503.31 and 45,824.69. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 2.36 percent, while Mazda Motor spiked 2.84 percent, Toyota Motor climbed 1.09 percent, Honda Motor advanced 0.97 percent, Softbank Group soared 3.05 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.49 percent, Mizuho Financial rallied 1.20 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial improved 0.72 percent, Mitsubishi Electric dipped 0.18 percent, Sony Group surged 3.19 percent, Panasonic Holdings rose 0.33 percent and Hitachi was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and stayed in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow dropped 173.96 points or 0.38 percent to finish at 45,947.32, while the NASDAQ sank 113.16 points or 0.50 percent to end at 22,384.70 and the S&P 500 lost 33.25 points or 0.50 percent to close at 6,604.72.

The continued weakness on Wall Street partly reflected ongoing concerns about the near-term outlook for the artificial intelligence trade.

Renewed uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates also weighed on the markets following the release of some upbeat U.S. economic data.

Later today, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on personal income and spending in August, which includes the Fed's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

Crude oil inched higher on Thursday amid the possibility of Russian oil exports being hit by sanctions by the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up $0.08 or 0.12 percent at $65.07 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release Septembers data for Tokyo-area inflation later this morning. Tokyo inflation, considered to be a leading indicator for the national trend, was up 2.6 percent overall on year, while core CPI rose an annual 2.5 percent.