TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market on Wednesday halted the four-day slide in which it had stumbled more than 1,320 points or 2.4 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 55,250-point plateau although it figures to head south again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on pessimism over the outlook for interest rates. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Nikkei finished sharply higher on Wednesday following gains from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index rallied 1,539.01 points or 2.87 percent to finish at the daily high of 55,239.40 after trading as low as 54,148.84.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor vaulted 1.51 percent, while Mazda Motor added 0.48 percent, Toyota Motor improved 0.74 percent, Honda Motor rose 0.22 percent, Softbank Group soared 5.81 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 2.69 percent, Mizuho Financial spiked 3.10 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 2.54 percent, Mitsubishi Electric accelerated 3.30 percent, Sony Group slumped 1.23 percent, Panasonic Holdings jumped 1.90 percent and Hitachi expanded 1.42 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Wednesday and moved deeper into the red as the day progressed, ending at session lows.
The Dow tumbled 768.11 points or 1.63 percent to finish at 46,225.15, while the NASDAQ dropped 327.11 points or 1.46 percent to close at 22,152.42 and the S&P 500 sank 91.39 points or 1.36 percent to end at 6,624.70.
The weakness early in the day came following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. increased by much more than expected in February.
Following that early pullback, stocks saw further downside in late-day trading following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments after the central bank announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
Powell said the U.S. is seeing 'some progress on inflation' but 'not as much as we had hoped.' While Fed officials' latest projections predict a quarter point rate cut this year, Powell warned that 'you won't see the rate cut' if there isn't further progress on inflation.
Crude oil prices ticked lower on Wednesday after Iraq said it has resumed oil production, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz by going through Turkey. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery eased $0.18 or 0.19 percent at $96.39 per 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 widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.75 percent.
Japan also will see January numbers for core machinery orders, with forecasts calling for a decline of 9.6 percent on month and a gain of 10.5 percent on year. That follows gains of 19.1 percent on month and 16.8 percent on year in December.
Copyright(c) 2026 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2026 AFX News
