Japan Stock Market May Extend Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market rebounded on Thursday, one day after halting the four-day winning streak in which it had surged more than 1,430 points or 3.2 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 45,300-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with technology stocks expected to lead the way higher. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

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

For the day, the index improved 513.05 points or 1.15 percent to finish at 45,303.43 after trading between 44,815.40 and 45,508.67. Among the actives, Nissan Motor retreated 1.41 percent, while Mazda Motor skidded 1.00 percent, Toyota Motor fell 0.34 percent, Honda Motor slumped 1.03 percent, Softbank Group climbed 1.08 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial perked 0.11 percent, Mizuho Financial dipped 0.29 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 0.72 percent, Mitsubishi Electric added 0.51 percent, Sony Group rallied 3.89 percent, Panasonic Holdings jumped 2.31 percent and Hitachi eased 0.10 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Thursday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, ending near session highs.

The Dow climbed 124.10 points or 0.27 percent to finish at 46,142.42, while the NASDAQ rallied 209.40 points or 0.94 percent to end at 22,470.72 and the S&P 500 gained 31.61 points or 0.48 percent to close at 6,631.96.

Technology stocks led the markets higher amid a spike by shares of Intel (INTC), with the chipmaker skyrocketing by 22.8 percent to its best closing level in over a year.

The rally by Intel came after the company announced a collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to jointly develop multiple generations of custom data center and PC products.

In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims pulled back by more than expected last week. Also, the Conference Board said its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell more than expected in August.

Crude oil fell on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve hinted at a slowdown by the American economy. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was down $0.46 or 0.72 percent at $63.59 per barrel.

Closer to home, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates; the BoJ is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.

Japan also will see August numbers for consumer prices; in July, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and 3.1 percent on year, while core CPI rose 0.2 percent on month and 3.1 percent on year.