Steady Start Eyed For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after ending the four-day losing streak in which it had tumbled more than 2,675 points or 5.1 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 52,460-point plateau and it's expected to see mild upside on Friday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on conflicting messages about the status of the war in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Thursday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index tumbled 1,276.41 points or 2.38 percent to finish at 52,463.27 after trading between 52,273.07 and 54,258.48. Among the actives, Nissan Motor eased 0.09 percent, while Mazda Motor stumbled 3.37 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.48 percent, Honda Motor skidded 1.01 percent, Softbank Group cratered 4.25 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial contracted 1.71 percent, Mizuho Financial tumbled 2.80 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial slumped 1.23 percent, Mitsubishi Electric plunged 3.37 percent, Sony Group declined 1.28 percent, Panasonic Holdings dropped 1.12 percent and Hitachi sank 1.20 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is flat to higher as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but quickly bounced higher and hugged the line for most of the day, ending mixed and little changed.

The Dow slipped 61.07 points or 0.13 percent to finish at 46,504.67, while the NASDAQ added 38.23 points or 0.18 percent to end at 21,879.18 and the S&P 500 rose 7.37 points or 0.11 percent to close at 6,582.69.

For the holiday-shortened week, the NASDAQ spiked 4.4 percent, the S&P 500 surged 3.4 percent and the Dow jumped 3 percent.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid renewed concerns about an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East following President Donald Trump's primetime address Wednesday night.

However, stocks bounced well off their worst levels after a report from Iranian state news said Iran and Oman are drafting a protocol to "monitor transit" through the Strait of Hormuz.

Crude oil prices catapulted Thursday on concerns of supply disruptions following Trump's address. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was up $11.94 or 11.93 percent at $112.06 per barrel.