Japan Stock Market May Reverse Thursday's Gains

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Thursday wrote a finish to the three-day slide in which it had given up more than 4,600 points or 8 percent. The Nikkei now sits just above the 55,275-point plateau although it may turn lower again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on growing concerns over surging energy prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

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

For the day, the index surged 1,032.52 points or 1.90 percent to finish at 55,278.06 after trading between 54,910.33 and 56,619.98. Among the actives, Mazda Motor climbed 1.31 percent, while Toyota Motor slumped 1.11 percent, Honda Motor tumbled 1.31 percent, Softbank Group rallied 4.26 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial spiked 3.42 percent, Mizuho Financial soared 6.37 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 3.71 percent, Mitsubishi Electric vaulted 2.72 percent, Sony Group slipped 0.27 percent, Panasonic Holdings accelerated 3.36 percent, Hitachi climbed 2.32 percent and Nissan Motor was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and spent all day in the red, although ending off session lows.

The Dow tumbled 784.67 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 47,954.74, while the NASDAQ sank 58.50 points or 0.26 percent to close at 22,748.99 and the S&P 500 lost 38.79 points or 0.56 percent to end at 6,830.71.

Concerns about the impact of sharply higher energy prices weighed on Wall Street, as the price of crude oil resumed the surge seen early in the week.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed again on Thursday, resuming the surge seen earlier in the week in reaction to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery spiked $6.51 or 8.7 percent to $81.17 a barrel and has soared $14.15 or 21.1 percent so far this week.

Iran has claimed it struck a U.S. oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, raising fears of a wider conflict after the Islamic republic threatened to halt shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying the war could last up to eight weeks but might be over sooner.