Japan Stock Market May Head South Again On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market on Thursday snapped the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 1,250 points or 1.9 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 65,270-point plateau although it may hand back those gains on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on surging crude oil prices and the corresponding threat to interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow suit.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Thursday as gains from the financial and manufacturing companies were capped by weakness among the technology and transportation shares.

For the day, the index added 128.17 points or 0.20 percent to finish at the daily high of 65,270.95 after moving as low as 64,186.68.

The lead from Wall Street is soft as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and remained in negative territory throughout the session.

The Dow dropped 316.56 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 52,064.10, while the NASDAQ shed 171.62 points or 0.65 percent to end at 26,081.72 and the S&P 500 lost 44.66 points or 0.58 percent to close at 7,591.70.

The continued weakness on Wall Street came as the price of crude oil continued to surge, with U.S. crude oil futures soaring above $100 a barrel for the first time since May amid concerns of a prolonged war between the U.S. and Iran.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Thursday as supply disruption concerns increased following the recent U.S.-Iran re-escalation. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $6.81 or 7.09 percent at $102.86 per barrel.

The spike in crude oil prices contributed to a continued surge in treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumping to its highest levels in almost three years.

Higher crude oil prices and treasury yields have added to concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting next week. CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 73.1 percent chance that the Fed will raise rates by a quarter-point following the meeting.

Closer to home, Japan will release August figures for producer prices later this morning. Producer prices are expected to be flat on month and up 7.4 percent on year after rising 0.1 percent on month and 7.2 percent on year.