Japan Stock Market Has Positive Lead For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has tracked higher in back-to-back sessions, gathering more than 850 points or 1.3 percent along the way. Now at a fresh record closing high, the Nikkei sits just above the 63,270-point plateau and it may tick higher again on Thursday

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes for an end to the hostilities in the Middle East. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets are also expected to track to the upside.

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

For the day, the index jumped 529.54 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 63,272.11 after trading between 62,318.87 and 63,347.91. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 4.26 percent, while Mazda Motor soared 4.40 percent, Toyota Motor rallied 3.39 percent, Honda Motor climbed 1.31 percent, Softbank Group rose 0.42 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 1.40 percent, Mizuho Financial advanced 1.15 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial improved 1.09 percent, Mitsubishi Electric vaulted 1.49 percent, Sony Group surged 5.05 percent, Panasonic Holdings plunged 3.82 percent and Hitachi tanked 2.42 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened mixed but trended higher throughout the session, finally finishing mixed.

The Dow shed 67.36 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 49,693.20, while the NASDAQ rallied 314.14 points of 1.20 percent to end at a record 26,402.34 and the S&P 500 gained 43.29 points or 0.58 percent to close at 7,444.25, also a record.

The mixed performance on Wall Street followed the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. shot up much more than expected in April, marking the largest jump since March 2022.

Following the data, interest rate-sensitive utilities and housing stocks showed significant moves to the downside on the day.

The rally by the NASDAQ reflected substantial strength among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Crude oil prices pulled back on Wednesday as the upcoming negotiations between the presidents of the U.S. and China have increased expectations of an end to the U.S.-Iran standoff despite OPEC and IEA oil forecast reports warning of a supply-demand mismatch. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery was down $1.04 or 1.02 percent at $101.14 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will on Thursday see M2 money stock numbers for April later this morning; M2 is expected to rise 1.9 percent on year, easing from 2.0 percent in March.