Japan Stock Market May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 410 points or 0.8 percent in that span. The Nikkei 225 now sits just shy of the 50,340-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is uncertain amidst geopolitical concerns in South America. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the somewhat overbought Asian bourses are expected to open in mixed fashion.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the technology and financial shares, while the automobile producers were mixed.

For the day, the index sank 187.42 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 50,339.48 after trading between 50,198.97 and 50,534.64. Among the actives, Nissan Motor advanced 0.98 percent, while Toyota Motor fell 0.24 percent, Honda Motor slipped 0.32 percent, Softbank Group tumbled 1.90 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial eased 0.14 percent, Mizuho Financial and Sony Group both dipped 0.12 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial retreated 1.56 percent, Mitsubishi Electric sank 0.74 percent, Panasonic Holdings dropped 0.76 percent, Hitachi lost 0.55 percent and Mazda Motor was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is mostly upbeat as the major averages spent most of Friday's session hugging the line for much of the day before finishing mostly in the green.

The Dow climbed 319.09 points or 0.66 percent to finish at 48,382.39, while the NASDAQ dipped 6.37 points or 0.03 percent to close at 23,235.63 and the S&P 500 added12.97 points or 0.19 percent to end at 6,858.47.

For the week, the NASDAQ dropped 1.5 percent, the S&P sank 1.0 percent and the Dow lost 0.7 percent.

The lackluster performance by the broader markets came as some traders remained away from their desks following the New Year's Day holiday on Thursday.

Geopolitical concerns may weigh on sentiment after the U.S. carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela. That country's leader, President Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, had been captured and flown out of Venezuela.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Friday ahead of Sunday's OPEC meeting, with West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery dipping $0.12 or 0.2 percent to $57.30. On Sunday, OPEC decided to keep output levels unchanged, as expected. For 2025, crude fell almost 20 percent.