Renewed Consolidation Called For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Thursday ended the two-day losing streak in which it had stumbled more than 630 points or 1.7 percent. The Nikkei 225 now rests just above the 38,250-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on continuing concerns over U.S. tariffs. The European and U.S. markets finished under water and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Thursday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index advanced 113.80 points or 0.30 percent to finish at 38,256.17 after trading between 38,061.94 and 38,369.96.

Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 3.65 percent, while Mazda Motor spiked 2.52 percent, Toyota Motor rallied 2.17 percent, Honda Motor added 0.53 percent, Softbank Group collected 0.80 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial climbed 1.07 percent, Mizuho Financial jumped 2.13 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial strengthened 1.25 percent, Mitsubishi Electric improved 1.43 percent, Sony Group rose 0.34 percent, Panasonic Holdings perked 0.21 percent and Hitachi soared 2.38 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is grim as the major averages opened higher on Thursday but faded into the red as the day progressed, ending near session lows.

The Dow stumbled 193.62 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 43,239.50, while the NASDAQ plummeted 530 points or 2.78 percent to close at 18,544.42 and the S&P 500 dropped 94.49 points or 1.59 percent to end at 5,861.57.

Stocks initially benefited from earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), which reported better than expected Q4 results and provided upbeat revenue guidance. But its shares subsequently tumbled by 8.5 percent as the AI darling and market leader also warned about increase global competition.

The sell-off on Wall Street also came as President Donald Trump said 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada will go into effect on March 4. Trump said an additional 10 percent tariff on imports from China will also be imposed, claiming without evidence that drugs are pouring into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada and that a large percentage of them are supplied by China.

In economic news, the Labor Department said first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose much more than expected last week. Also, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders surged more than expected in January.

Oil prices climbed higher on Thursday as the U.S. decision to revoke Chevron Corporation's license to operate in Venezuela raised supply concerns. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for April closed higher by $1.73 or 2.52 percent at $70.35 a barrel.

Closer to home, Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data today, including January figures for industrial production, retail sales, housing starts and construction orders, as well as February data for Tokyo inflation.

Industrial production is expected to slip 0.9 percent on month after falling 0.2 percent in December. Sales are expected to rise 3.9 percent, up from 3.5 percent in the previous month. In December, housing starts were down 2.5 percent on year and construction orders jumped 8.1 percent.

Overall Tokyo inflation is seen higher by 3.6 percent on year, up from 3.4 percent in January. Core CPI is expected to add an annual 2.3 percent, down from 2.5 percent in the previous month.