TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has tracked lower in back-to-back sessions, slumping more than 1,400 points or 2.8 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 51,110-point plateau and it's likely to remain in that neighborhood again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets offers little clarity ahead of key U.S. employment data. The European and U.S. markets were mixed and roughly flat and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index stumbled 844.72 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 51,117.26 after trading between 51,052.83 and 51,866.19.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor advanced 0.96 percent, while Mazda Motor skidded 1.11 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.23 percent, Honda Motor shed 0.49 percent, Softbank Group plummeted 7.59 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial lost 0.57 percent, Mizuho Financial contracted 1.25 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial stumbled 2.09 percent, Mitsubishi Electric surrendered 1.85 percent, Sony Group slumped 1.16 percent, Panasonic Holdings tumbled 2.57 percent and Hitachi plunged 3.33 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is murky as the major averages opened mixed on Thursday and spent much of the day on opposite sides of the line and ending the same way.
The Dow climbed 270.03 points or 0.55 percent to finish at 49,266.11, while the NASDAQ sank 104.26 points or 0.44 percent to end at 23,480.02 and the S&P 500 perked 0.51 points or 0.01 percent to close at 6,921.44.
The mixed performance on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report later today.
The jobs data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting later this month. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its January 27-28 meeting but is seen as likely to cut rates by at least another quarter point in the coming months.
Ahead of the monthly jobs report, a report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits edged up slightly less than expected last week.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Thursday as data showed a decline in the U.S. crude inventories, offsetting global oversupply concerns and supporting prices. West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery was up $1.70 or 3.04 percent at $57.69 per barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will release November results for its leading and coincident indexes and household spending later today. The leading index is expected to rise 1.8 percent on month, up from 1.6 percent in October. The coincident is seen higher by 0.5 percent, easing from 1.3 percent a month earlier. Household spending is expected to rise 2.7 percent on month and fall 1.0 percent on year after sinking 3.5 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year in October.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
