TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market turned lower again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day losing streak in which it had tumbled almost 1,500 points or 3.2 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 49,000-point plateau although it may bounce higher again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on renewed optimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses figure to follow that lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile companies.
For the day, the index slumped 510.78 points or 1.03 percent to finish at 49,001.50 after trading between 48,643.78 and 49,169.79.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor tumbled 1.76 percent, while Mazda Motor skidded 1.11 percent, Toyota Motor and Sony Group both added 0.42 percent, Honda Motor tanked 2.53 percent, Softbank Group cratered 3.76 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial slumped 1.00 percent, Mizuho Financial dropped 0.92 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial eased 0.12 percent, Mitsubishi Electric retreated 1.41 percent, Panasonic Holdings stumbled 2.71 percent and Hitachi plunged 2.96 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher on Friday and remained in the green throughout the trading day, albeit off of session highs.
The Dow added 65.88 points or 0.14 percent to finish at 47,951.85, while the NASDAQ jumped 313.04 points or 1.38 percent to end at 23,006.36 and the S&P 500 gained 53.33 points or 0.79 percent to close at 6,774.76.
The strength on Wall Street came following the release of a closely watched Labor Department unexpectedly showing a slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth.
The tamer-than-expected inflation data has led to renewed confidence that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates next year.
A separate report from the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits declined roughly in line with estimates last week.
Crude oil prices inched higher again on Thursday amid the lingering geopolitical concerns stemming from Venezuela and Russia. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.13 or 0.2 percent at $56.07 a barrel.
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 expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 0.75 percent from 0.50 percent.
Japan also will see November numbers for consumer prices; in October, overall national inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year, while core CPI was up 0.3 percent on year.
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