Rebound Anticipated For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had collected more than 1,100 points or 1.7 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 69,750-point plateau although it's likely to bounce higher again on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher, with support expected from the technology and oil stocks. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.

The Nikkei finished barely lower on Monday following a mixed performance from the financial shares, while the automobile and technology companies offered support. For the day, the index slipped 6.38 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 69,737.69 after trading between 68,904.41 and 70,384.59. Among the actives, Nissan Motor and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial both jumped 1.92 percent, while Mazda Motor accelerated 2.24 percent, Toyota Motor spiked 3.36 percent, Honda Motor rallied 3.16 percent, Softbank Group tanked 3.08 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 1.32 percent, Mizuho Financial vaulted 1.45 percent, Mitsubishi Electric strengthened 1.67 percent, Sony Group climbed 1.24 percent, Panasonic Holdings gained 0.77 percent and Hitachi soared 4.12 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Monday and largely spent most of the day in the green, ending near daily highs.

The Dow climbed 155.84 points or 0.29 percent to finish at a record 53,055.91, while the NASDAQ jumped 288.49 points or 1.12 percent to close at 26,121.16 and the S&P 500 gained 54.19 points or 0.72 percent to end at 7,537.43.

The upward move on Wall Street came amid strength among technology stocks, with computer hardware stocks turning in some of the best performances as the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index shot up by 3.4 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among networking and semiconductor stocks, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.8 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said growth in U.S. service sector activity slowed slightly in June, although it was in line with expectations.

Crude oil prices ticked lower on Monday as oil tanker traffic across the Strait of Hormuz increased gradually, while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to increase output. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $0.15 or 0.22 percent at $68.54 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release May figures for household spending and its leading index later today. Spending is expected to rise 1.4 percent on month and sink 2.2 percent on year after rising 1.6 percent on month and falling 0.5 percent on year in April. The leading index was up 0.7 percent on month in April and the coincident was up 1.3 percent.