TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished higher in five straight sessions, rallying almost 1,850 points or 5 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 36,050-point plateau and it's likely to hold steady in that neighborhood again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests slight upside on an improved outlook for interest rates. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were mixed and little changed and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Wednesday as gains from the financial shares and technology stocks were capped by weakness from the automobile producers.
For the day, the index jumped 205.39 points or 0.57 percent to finish at 36,045.38 after trading between 35,793.33 and 36,056.52.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor fell 0.38 percent, while Mazda Motor tanked 2.58 percent, Toyota Motor stumbled 2.06 percent, Honda Motor perked 0.10 percent, Softbank Group eased 0.08 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial jumped 1.78 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.85 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rallied 1.28 percent, Mitsubishi Electric soared 5.36 percent, Sony Group surged 5.50 percent, Panasonic Holdings spiked 2.15 percent and Hitachi plummeted 6.11 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is mixed to higher as the major averages opened sharply lower on Wednesday but trended higher throughout the sessions, finally ending mixed and little changed.
The Dow climbed 141.74 points or 0.35 percent to finish at 40,669.36, while the NASDAQ slipped 14.98 points or 0.09 percent to close at 17,446.34 and the S&P 500 perked 8.23 points or 0.15 percent to end at 5,569.06.
The early sell-off on Wall Street came as traders cashed in on recent strength in the markets following the release of a Commerce Department report showing the U.S. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first three months of 2025.
Adding to the negative sentiment, payroll processor ADP released a report showing private sector employment in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of April.
Selling pressure waned over the course of the session, however, with the data possibly generating some optimism about the outlook for interest rates.
The price of crude oil showed another significant move to the downside on Wednesday amid ongoing concerns about the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery plunged $2.20 or 3.6 percent to $58.22 a barrel. For the month of April, crude for June delivery nosedived by 18 percent.
Closer to home, the Bank of Japan will wrap up its monetary policy meeting this morning and then announce its decision on interest rates; the BoJ is widely expected to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.
Japan also will see April data for household confidence, with forecasts suggesting an index score of 33.9 - easing from 34.1 in March.
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