TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japan stock market on Friday snapped the two-day slide in which it had slumped more than 900 points or 1.6 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 54,250-point plateau and it may add to its winnings on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat, with bargain hunting among the technology companies likely to lead the markets higher. The European and U.S. markets were firmly higher and the Asian markets are expected to follow that lead.
The Nikkei finished modestly higher on Friday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index jumped 435.64 points or 0.81 percent to finish at the daily high of 54,253.68 after trading as low as 52,950.15.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 4.91 percent, while Mazda Motor improved 0.85 percent, Toyota Motor rallied 2.00 percent, Honda Motor vaulted 3.20 percent, Softbank Group jumped 2.22 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial strengthened 2.50 percent, Mizuho Financial soared 3.32 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 4.55 percent, Mitsubishi Electric expanded 2.26 percent, Sony Group surged 4.75 percent, Panasonic Holdings gained 2.61 percent and Hitachi advanced 3.93 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened firmly higher on Friday and continued to accelerate throughout the day, ending at session highs.
The Dow surged 1,206.97 points or 2.47 percent to finish at a record 50,115.67, while the NASDAQ soared 490.61 points or 2.18 percent to close at 23,031.21 and the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points or 1.97 percent to end at 6,932.30.
For the week, the Dow rallied 2.5 percent, while the S&P dipped 0.1 percent and the NASDAQ fell 1.8 percent.
The rally on Wall Street reflected bargain hunting as traders looked to pick up stocks at reduced levels following the recent weakness, especially among the technology shares that had dragged the NASDAQ to its lowest close in two months.
Airline stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, as did computer hardware and semiconductor stocks. A sharp increase by the price of gold also provided significant strength to the markets.
Crude oil moved higher on Friday after the U.S. issued an advisory telling its citizens to depart from Iran, further stoking concerns of war. West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery was up $0.20 or 0.32 percent at $63.49 per barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will on Monday release December data for current account later this morning; the current account is expected to show a surplus of 1.060 trillion yen, down from 3.674 trillion yen in November.
Japan also will see January figures for bank lending and the eco watchers survey. Lending is expected to rise 4.5 percent on year, up from 4.4 percent in December. The eco watchers survey for current conditions is expected to see a score of 49.1, up from 48.6 a month earlier.
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