TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in four straight sessions, plunging almost 2,650 points or 4.5 percent in that span. The Nikkei sits just above the 60,550-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is weak on continued concerns over the conflict in the Middle East and on the outlook got interest rates. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares and technology stocks.
For the day, the index lost 265.36 points or 0.44 percent to finish at 60,550.59 after trading between 60,256.33 and 61,456.31.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor rose 0.39 percent, while Mazda Motor climbed 1.09 percent, Toyota Motor perked 0.08 percent, Softbank Group tanked 4.15 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rallied 3.77 percent, Mizuho Financial soared 5.53 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 3.66 percent, Mitsubishi Electric plunged 5.20 percent, Sony Group spiked 3.45 percent, Panasonic Holdings rose 0.15 percent, Hitachi jumped 2.83 percent and Honda Motor was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is negative as the major averages opened lower on Tuesday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.
The Dow slumped 322.24 points or 0.65 percent to finish at 49,363.88, while the NASDAQ tumbled 220.03 points or 0.84 percent to close at 25,870.71 and the S&P 500 sank 49.44 points or 0.67 percent to end at 7,353.61.
The weakness on Wall Street came amid an extended surge by treasury yields, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumping to its highest levels since January 2025.
Concerns about elevated crude oil prices leading to a sustained acceleration in the pace of inflation continued to drive yields higher and increase the possibility of an interest rate hike.
Crude oil prices took a breather on Tuesday following news the U.S. is halting its planned attacks on Iran, although the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. West Texas Intermediate crude for June was down $0.07 or 0.1 percent at $108.59 per barrel.
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