Japan Stock Market May Open Under Pressure On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market has moved lower in two straight sessions, tumbling almost 900 points or 1.3 percent in that span. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 65,480-point plateau and it may take further damage on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower ahead of key U.S. inflation data. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the paper, transportation, telecom and energy sectors.

For the day, the index sank 396.35 points or 0.60 percent to finish at 65,481.27 after trading between 64,699.49 and 65,805.08.

The lead from Wall Street remains weak as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and largely stayed that way throughout the trading session, although ending well off daily lows.

The Dow dropped 131.59 points or 0.26 percent to finish at 51,359.92, while the NASDAQ dipped 22.84 points or 0.09 percent to close at 26,797.54 and the S&P 500 fell 12.85 points or 0.17 percent to end at 7,670.84.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of closely watched inflation data later today. The data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting late next month.

Crude oil prices could not hold early gains and turned significantly lower Tuesday on reports that crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports are recovering from an attack on a key pipeline earlier this month. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $2.90 or 3.1 percent to $89.70 a barrel.

Despite the pullback by the price of crude oil, treasury yields turned higher over the course of the session, extending a recent upward trend.

On the U.S. economic front, the Conference Board noted unexpected deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence in September.

Closer to home, Japan will release a raft of data later today, including August figures for industrial production, retail sales, construction orders and housing starts.

Industrial production is expected to rise 1.4 percent on month after slipping 0.2 percent in July. Retail sales are tipped to add an annual 3.3 percent, easing from 4.0 percent in the previous month. Housing starts are expected to climb 6.9 percent on year, down from 8.2 percent a month earlier. Construction orders were down 13.4 percent on year in July.