TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japan stock market on Monday ended the four-day winning streak in which it had rallied more than 2,025 points or 3.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 58,050-point plateau and it may move back to the upside again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed, with geopolitical concerns expected to war with bargain hunting. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and flat and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the financial shares and automobile producers, while the technology stocks were mixed.
For the day, the index dropped 793.03 points or 1.35 percent to finish at 58,057.24 after trading between 57,285.77 and 58,365.21.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor tumbled 2.70 percent, while Mazda Motor surrendered 2.41 percent, Toyota Motor accelerated 3.11 percent, Honda Motor retreated 1.99 percent, Softbank Group skidded 1.05 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial cratered 5.00 percent, Mizuho Financial plunged 4.77 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial crashed 4.50 percent, Mitsubishi Electric perked 0.05 percent, Sony Group declined 1.37 percent, Panasonic Holdings rallied 2.19 percent and Hitachi plummeted 3.00 percent.
The lead from Wall Street offers little clarity as the major averages opened lower on Monday but gradually came back and hugged the line for the rest of the day, ending mixed.
The Dow sank 73.14 points or 0.15 percent to finish at 48,904.78. while the NASDAQ gained 80.65 points or 0.36 percent to close at 22,748.86 and the S&P 500 rose 2.74 points or 0.04 percent to end at 6,881.62.
Early selling pressure was generated in reaction to the news that the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes against Iran over the weekend, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The subsequent turnaround came as traders used the initial sell-off as an opportunity to pick up stocks at reduced levels after the Dow hit its lowest intraday level in two months.
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing a slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of February.
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Monday amid concerns about supply disruptions due to the conflict in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery surged $4.08 or 6.1 percent to $71.10 a barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will see January figures for unemployment, February data for monetary base and Q4 numbers for capital spending later today. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 2.6 percent, while the monetary base is expected to slide 10.2 percent on year after sinking 9.3 percent in January. Capex is seen higher by an annual 3.1 percent, up from 2.9 percent in the three months prior.
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