Japan Stock Market Poised To Break Through 52,000-Point Level

(RTTNews) - Ahead of Monday's holiday for Coming of Age Day, the Japanese stock market had ended the two-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 1,400 points or 2.8 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 51,940-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with oil prices being the main catalyst to the upside. The European and U.S. markets were slightly higher and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion. The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, automobile producers and technology stocks. For the day, the index rallied 822.63 points or 1.61 percent to finish at 51,939.89 after trading between 51,189.14 and 51,986.91. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 2.46 percent, while Mazda Motor vaulted 4.33 percent, Toyota Motor jumped 2.85 percent, Honda Motor soared 3.12 percent, Softbank Group sank 0.86 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial strengthened 1.46 percent, Mizuho Financial expanded 2.23 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 2.94 percent, Mitsubishi Electric added 0.51 percent, Sony Group tumbled 1.37 percent, Panasonic Holdings climbed 1.59 percent and Hitachi advanced 0.92 percent. The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Monday but managed to break into the green shortly thereafter.

The Dow added 86.13 points or 0.17 percent to finish at 49,590.20, while the NASDAQ gained 62.56 points or 0.26 percent to close at 23,733.90 and the S&P 500 rose 10.99 points or 0.16 percent to end at 6,977.27.

The initial pullback on Wall Street reflected concerns about the Federal Reserve's independence after Fed Chair Jerome Powell revealed that the U.S. central bank has been served subpoenas by the Department of Justice that threaten criminal charges.

Powell termed this action "unprecedented" and ascribed it to President Donald Trump's ongoing threats and pressure on the Fed to lower interest rates.

Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, as traders remain optimistic about the outlook for interest rates. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its next meeting later this month, the central bank is still likely to cut rates by at least another quarter point in the coming months.

Crude oil prices climbed on Monday as the increasing possibility of U.S. intervention to end the Iran turmoil sets off production disruption concerns. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $0.33 or 0.51 percent at $59.42 per barrel. Closer to home, Japan will release November numbers for its current account later this morning; the current account is expected to show a surplus of 3.594 trillion yen, up from 2.834 trillion yen in October. Japan also will see December fata for bank lending and the eco watchers survey. Lending is expected to rise 4.1 percent on year, easing from 4.2 percent in November. The eco watchers survey for current conditions is tipped to show a score of 48.8, up marginally from 48.7 in the previous month.