TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market on Friday wrote a finish to the two-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 1,050 points or 2.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 41,450-point plateau although it's likely to rebound on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat after the U.S. and the European Union ratified a trade agreement over the weekend. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets are expected to follow the latter lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Friday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index slumped 370.07 points or 0.88 percent to finish at 41,456.23 after trading between 41,389.79 and 41,773.70.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor stumbled 2.84 percent, while Mazda Motor plummeted 6.56 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 2.02 percent, Honda Motor declined 1.79 percent, Softbank Group added 0.45 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial shed 0.67 percent, Mizuho Financial fell 0.40 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial lost 0.45 percent, Mitsubishi Electric skidded 1.14 percent, Sony Group tanked 2.14 percent, Panasonic Holdings tumbled 1.94 percent and Hitachi was down 0.19 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and tracked mostly higher throughout the session, sending the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 to fresh record closing highs.
The Dow jumped 208.02 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 44,901.92, while the NASDAQ added 50.32 points or 0.24 percent to close at 21,108.32 and the S&P 500 gained 25.29 points or 0.40 percent to end at 6,388.64.
The strength on Wall Street came on optimism that a number of trade deals will be worked out prior to President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline for the extension of his 'reciprocal tariffs.'
With only a few days left, several trading partners are trying to reach an agreement with the U.S. to avoid high tariff imposition on their exports to the U.S. from August 1; the U.S. and the EU have since reached an agreement over the weekend.
Crude oil fell on Friday on reports that the U.S. might allow partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA to resume operations, sparking concerns of over-supply. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery closed, down $0.88 or 1.33 percent to $65.15 per barrel.
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