Rebound Anticipated For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Friday ended the two-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 1,425 points or 2.8 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 47,580-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the European markets is cautiously optimistic on easing economic tensions between the United States and China. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index stumbled 695.55 points or 1.44 percent to finish at 47,582.15 after trading between 47,494.31 and 48,140.90. Among the actives, Nissan Motor fell 0.37 percent, while Mazda Motor skidded 1.14 percent, Toyota Motor sank 0.71 percent, Honda Motor tumbled 1.94 percent, Softbank Group tanked 3.36 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial surrendered 2.98 percent, Mizuho Financial plunged 4.01 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial stumbled 3.08 percent, Mitsubishi Electric retreated 1.46 percent, Sony Group shed 0.49 percent, Panasonic Holdings perked 0.25 percent and Hitachi contracted 2.43 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Friday and hugged the line before rallying midday to finish solidly in the green.

The Dow jumped 238.41 points or 0.52 percent to finish at 46,190.61, while the NASDAQ climbed 117.47 points or 0.52 percent to end at 22,679.97 and the S&P 500 added 34.94 points or 0.53 percent to close at 6,664.01.

The strength that emerged on Wall Street came as the concerns about bad loans that dragged the markets lower on Thursday seemed to evaporate as quickly as they materialized.

Stocks also benefited from easing concerns about the trade dispute between the U.S. and China following comments from President Donald Trump, who admitted that the high tariffs he threatened to impose on China are probably not sustainable.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday after Trump suddenly reversed his hardline stance on China, suggesting warmer trade relations could lead to an increase in energy demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was up by $0.20 or 0.35 percent at $57.66 per barrel.