TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in six straight sessions, declining more than 1,160 points or 3 percent in that span. The Nikkei 225 now rests just above the 38,700-point plateau although it's overdue for support on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are predicted to follow the latter lead.
The Nikkei 225 finished modestly lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares and mixed performances from the technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index shed 111.70 points or 0.29 percent to finish at the daily low of 38,701.90 after peaking at 39,039.68.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor fell 0.40 percent, while Mazda Motor rose 0.22 percent, Toyota Motor accelerated 1.74 percent, Honda Motor improved 0.78 percent, Softbank Group stumbled 2.94 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial plunged 3.35 percent, Mizuho Financial tanked 2.36 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial retreated 2.48 percent, Mitsubishi Electric slid 0.31 percent, Sony Group gained 0.74 percent, Panasonic Holdings rallied 1.31 percent and Hitachi slumped 2.0.3 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened lower on Friday but quickly bounced up into the green and stayed that way for the balance of the session.
The Dow rallied 498.06 points or 1.18 percent to finish at 42,840.26, while the NASDAQ jumped 199.80 points or 1.03 percent to close at 19,572.60 and the S&P 500 gained 63.77 points or 1.09 percent to end at 5,930.85.
For the week, the Dow plunged 2.3 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 2.0 percent and the NASDAQ slumped 1.8 percent.
The rally on Wall Street followed the release of the Commerce Department's report on personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which came in slower than expected.
As that is the Federal Reserve's preferred reading on consumer price inflation, the slower than expected growth inspired traders to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the mid-week sell-off.
Oil futures settled higher on Friday as the dollar came off two-year highs after soft PCE readings eased concerns about the outlook for interest rate cuts. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures perked $0.08 or about 0.1 percent to $69.46 a barrel. Oil futures shed 2.5 percent in the week.
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