TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, plunging almost 1,750 points or 3.6 percent in that span. The Nikkei 225 now sits just shy of the 46,850-point plateau although it may see a technical rebound on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is tempered by concerns over the growing economic conflict between the United States and China. The European and U.S. markets were mixed to lower and the Asian bourses are likely to follow that lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Tuesday with damage across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index plummeted 1,241.48 points or 2.58 percent to finish at 46,847.32 after trading between 46,544.05 and 47,865.65.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor stumbled 3.57 percent, while Mazda Motor retreated 2.29 percent, Toyota Motor sank 0.93 percent, Honda Motor skidded 1.00 percent, Softbank Group plunged 6.14 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial tumbled 1.93 percent, Mizuho Financial surrendered 2.59 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial dropped 2.66 percent, Mitsubishi Electric cratered 3.41 percent, Sony Group tanked 3.38 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 3.85 percent and Hitachi crashed 3.44 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday but ticked steadily higher before finally finishing mixed.
The Dow climbed 202.88 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 46.270.46, while the NASDAQ slumped 172.91 points or 0.76 percent to close at 22,521.70 and the S&P 500 dipped 10.41 points or 0.16 percent to end at 6,644.31.
The late-day pullback on Wall Street came as a post by President Donald Trump reinforced earlier concerns about trade tensions between the U.S. and China.
Trump accused China of an 'economically hostile act' by purposefully not buying U.S. soybeans and threatened to terminate business with China having to do with cooking oil and other elements of trade as retribution.
The selling pressure was partly offset by upbeat earnings news from big-name financial companies, including Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM).
Crude oil prices pulled back sharply on Tuesday as renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and China have heightened, while forecasts predicting low demand in the months ahead also weighed. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $0.70 or 1.18 percent at $58.79 per barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will release final August numbers for industrial production later today; no change is expected from the previous reading of -1.2 percent on month.
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