(RTTNews) – The Japanese stock market has moved lower in three straight sessions, surrendering more than 810 points or 1.8 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 44,930-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside as investors figure to wait and see is the U.S. government can avert a shutdown. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Nikkei finished modestly lower again on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index slumped 111.12 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 44,932.63 after trading between 44,733.60 and 45,126.23.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor added 0.78 percent, while Mazda Motor shed 0.64 percent, Toyota Motor sank 0.71 percent, Honda Motor tanked 2.11 percent, Softbank Group tumbled 1.86 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 2.88 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 1.38 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial jumped 1.73 percent, Mitsubishi Electric strengthened 1.63 percent, Sony Group fell 0.21 percent, Panasonic Holdings rose 0.37 percent and Hitachi gained 0.31 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages spent all of Tuesday under water until the very end, when they crept up into positive territory.
The Dow climbed 81.82 points or 0.18 percent to finish at 46,397.89, while the NASDAQ added 68.86 points or 0.30 percent to end at 22,660.01 and the S&P 500 gained 27.25 points or 0.41 percent to close at 6,688.46.
The choppy trading for much of the day came as traders kept an eye on Washington, where lawmakers are struggling to reach an agreement to avert a government shutdown.
The late-day strength on Wall Street reflected hopes lawmakers will reach a last-minute agreement, as they often do, or optimism that a government shutdown will not have a major impact on the economy.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a Conference Board report showing a bigger than expected decrease by its reading on U.S. consumer confidence in the month of September.
Crude oil declined sharply on Tuesday, extending recent losses as excess supply concerns continue to linger due to the anticipated production increase by OPEC. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.08 or 1.70 percent at $62.37 per barrel.
Closer to home, the Bank of Japan will release its quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment later this morning. The large manufacturing index is expected to show a score of +14, up from +13 in the previous three months. The outlook is pegged at +13, up from +12. Large all-industry capex was seen higher by 11.5 percent in Q2.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
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