Nikkei Expected To Return From Break To The Downside

(RTTNews) - Ahead of the long holiday weekend for Respect For The Aged Day and the Autumn Equinox, the Japan stock market had climbed higher in three straight sessions, rallying more than 1,500 points or 2.3 percent in that span. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 65,000-point plateau, although it's likely to run out of steam on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to a rebound in crude oil prices and a spike in treasury yields. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Friday following gains from the technology, manufacturing and health sectors, while utilities and communications companies weighed.

For the day, the index jumped 882.75 points or 1.38 percent to finish at 65,018.95 after trading between 64,403.85 and 65,436.57.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened in the red on Wednesday and continued to trend lower throughout the session, ending at daily lows.

The Dow sank 352.10 points or 0.68 percent to finish at 51,511.59, while the NASDAQ dropped 308.24 points or 1.13 percent to close at 26,936.04 and the S&P 500 lost 58.61 points or 0.75 percent to end at 7,706.03.

The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came after a rebound in crude oil prices and treasury yields that followed comments a day earlier from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said that a deal with Iran may be possible after the midterm elections but said that he may instead just decide to "annihilate the Islamic Republic." He also spoke of setting up a "large military presence" on Greenland.

Crude oil prices snapped a five-day losing streak on Wednesday as prices climbed thanks to ongoing concerns about the Middle East conflict. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for November delivery rose $1.90 or 2.1 percent to $92.40 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will see preliminary September results for the manufacturing, services and composite PMIs from S&P Global later today; in August, their scores were 54.9, 52.5 and 53.5, respectively.