Rebound Anticipated For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market on Friday snapped the two-day winning streak in which it had surged almost 3,500 points or 5.6 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 68,300-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat thanks to easing crude oil prices and treasury yields and an improved outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Friday following losses among the financial shares, technology stocks and paper companies.

For the day, the index tumbled 647.26 points or 0.94 percent to finish at 68,309.46 after trading between 68,132.16 and 68,741.49

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day.

The Dow climbed 250.40 points or 0.49 percent to finish at 51,176.96, while the NASDAQ jumped 319.27 points or 1.19 percent and the S&P 500 gained 56.27 points or 0.73 percent to end at 7,722.72.

For the week, the NASDAQ added 0.5 percent, while the S&P fell 0.3 percent and the Dow slumped 1.3 percent.

The early rally on Wall Street came followed the release of a closely watched Labor Department report showing much weaker than expected job growth in September.

While the data may raise some concerns about the strength of the economy, the release also contributed to a steep drop by treasury yields. The data was seen as reducing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will once again raise interest rates at its next meeting later this month.

Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday following reports that the European Union may release diesel reserves to help cool surging fuel prices linked to the Iran war. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.17 or 1.3 percent to $91.70 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will see September results for the services and compositive PMIs from S&P Global and for its household confidence survey later today. In August, the services PMI was at 51.6 and the composite was at 52.5, while the consumer confidence index came in at 35.5.