Losses May Accelerate For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, sinking more than 375 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 53,370-point plateau and it's expected to see continued consolidation on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets continues to be negative thanks to the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting surge in oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Friday as losses from the technology stocks were offset by support from the financial shares and technology stocks.

For the day, the index dropped 230.58 points or 0.43 percent to finish at 53,373.07 after trading between 52,516.92 and 53,714.90. Among the actives, Nissan Motor dropped 0.94 percent, while Mazda Motor and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial both added 0.54 percent, Toyota Motor gained 0.59 percent, Honda Motor accelerated 1.52 percent, Softbank Group soared 3.24 percent, Mizuho Financial perked 0.17 percent, Mitsubishi Electric tanked 2.22 percent, Sony Group slipped 0.28 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 0.98 percent, Hitachi sank 1.32 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial was unchanged.

The lead from Wall Street remains grim as the major averages opened lower on Friday and got worse as the day progressed, ending at session lows.

The Dow plunged 793.46 points or 1.73 percent to finish at 45,166.64, while the NASDAQ tumbled 459.74 points or 2.15 percent to close at 20,948.36 and the S&P 500 dropped 108.31 points or 1.67 percent to end at 6,368.85.

For the week, the NASDAQ plummeted 3.2 percent, the S&P 500 dove 2.1 percent and the Dow slid 0.9 percent. The steep losses dragged the major averages down to their lowest closing levels in over eight months.

A continued surge by the price of crude oil weighed on Wall Street, with international benchmark Brent crude futures jumping back above $110 a barrel after soaring by more than 5 percent.

Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Friday after Iran shut down reports of peace talks for the ongoing conflict. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $5.32 or 5.63 percent at $99.80 per barrel.

Analysts suggest that the longer crude oil prices remain at elevated levels, the greater the fear of inflationary pressures continuing to climb.

Closer to home, Japan will release February figures for construction orders and housing starts later today; in January, orders were up 5.7 percent on year and housing starts eased an annual 0.4 percent.