Japan Stock Market May Open In The Red

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Thursday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had advanced more than 350 points or 0.9 percent. The Nikkei 225 now rests just beneath the 38,000-point plateau and it may extend its losses on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild downside ahead of key inflation data later in the day. The European and U.S. markets saw mild downside and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the automobile producers and mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 227.32 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 37,799.97 after trading between 37,556.75 and 37,859.06.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor retreated 1.68 percent, while Mazda Motor plunged 5.99 percent, Toyota Motor tanked 2.04 percent, Honda Motor stumbled 2.48 percent, Softbank Group surrendered 3.92 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial advanced 0.90 percent, Mizuho Financial jumped 1.38 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 1.42 percent, Mitsubishi Electric added 0.50 percent, Sony Group rose 0.26 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 1.39 percent and Hitachi declined 1.45 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and bounced back and forth across the line before finishing modestly lower.

The Dow dropped 155.09 points or 0.37 percent to finish at 42,299.70, while the NASDAQ slumped 94.98 points or 0.53 percent to close at 17,804.03 and the S&P 500 sank 18.89 points or 0.33 percent to end at 5,693.31.

The lower close on Wall Street came amid ongoing concerns about President Donald Trump's trade policies after he announced plans to impose 25 percent tariffs on auto imports.

Traders may also have been reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation later today.

On the U.S. economic front, the Commerce Department said the economy grew slightly faster than estimated in the fourth quarter of 2024. Also, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales saw a significant rebound in February after plunging to an all-time low in January.

Oil prices moved higher Thursday on supply concerns after data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude oil inventories last week. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for May closed up $0.19 or about 0.27 percent at $69.84 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release March data for Tokyo-area inflation this morning. In February, overall Tokyo inflation was up 2.9 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 2.2 percent.