Win Streak May Continue For Japan Stock Market

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market has moved higher in back-to-back sessions, soaring more than 2,500 points or 4.5 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 56,360-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic amidst an extended rebound among technology companies and ahead of key U.S. data later this week. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead. The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Monday following gains from the financial shares and technology stocks. For the day, the index spiked 2,110.26 points or 3.89 percent to finish at 56,363.94 after trading between 55,018.57 and 57,337.07. Among the actives, Nissan Motor stumbled 3.24 percent, while Mazda Motor tanked 3.08 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.35 percent, Honda Motor plunged 3.37 percent, Softbank Group soared 6.30 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose 0.20 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 2.89 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial climbed 1.25 percent, Mitsubishi Electric rallied 5.00 percent, Sony Group slumped 1.48 percent, Panasonic Holdings improved 1.23 percent and Hitachi skyrocketed 8.40 percent. The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened lower on Monday but eventually moved up into the green to finish with modest gains.

The Dow rose 18.98 points or 0.04 percent to finish at 50,134.65, while the NASDAQ jumped 217.80 points or 0.95 percent to close at 23,249.02 and the S&P 500 added 34.13 points or 0.49 percent to end at 6,966.43.

The strength that has emerged on Wall Street reflected an extended rebound by tech stocks, which helped the strong upward move seen last Friday.

Software giant Oracle (ORCL) has helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 9.3 percent after D.A. Davidson upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Buy from Neutral.

The choppy trading came as traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several key U.S. economic reports in the coming days. The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report, which was delayed due to the brief government shutdown last week, is likely to be in the spotlight.

Gold prices moved sharply higher on Monday, extending last week's gains. Gold for February delivery surged $99.70 or 2 percent to $5,050.90 an ounce. The continued advance by the price of gold came amid weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar index sliding 0.7 percent. Closer to home, Japan will provide January numbers for M2 money stock later this morning, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.8 percent on year - up from 1.7 percent in December.