TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in two of three trading days since the end of the three-day winning streak in which it had gained more than 5,350 points or 8 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just shy of the 64,700-point plateau although it figures to move back to the upside on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic on hopes for an end to the U.S.-Iran war. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Thursday following losses from the financial shares, gains from the automobile producers and a mixed picture from the technology companies.
For the day, the index dropped 306.28 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 64,693.12 after trading between 63,875.04 and 65,165.75.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 2.44 percent, while Mazda Motor advanced 0.98 percent, Toyota Motor improved 0.73 percent, Honda Motor vaulted 1.41 percent, Softbank Group tumbled 2.02 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial retreated 1.62 percent, Mizuho Financial tanked 2.11 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial stumbled 1.70 percent, Mitsubishi Electric improved 0.88 percent, Sony Group contracted 2.10 percent, Panasonic Holdings sank 0.70 percent and Hitachi surged 4.31 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is upbeat as the major averages opened lower on Thursday but quickly moved to the upside to finish with varying degrees of gains to close at fresh record highs.
The Dow added 24.69 points or 0.05 percent to finish at 50,668.97, while the NASDAQ jumped 242.74 points or 0.91 percent to end at 26,917.47 and the S&P 500 gained 43.27 points or 0.58 percent to close at 7,563.63.
The turnaround on Wall Street came after a report from Axios said U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding.
Crude oil prices handed back most of their early gains on Thursday after reports of the understanding between the U.S. and Iran. After surging as much as $3.84 or 4.3 percent to a high of $92.52 a barrel, crude for July delivery ended up $0.32 or 0.4 percent at $89 a barrel.
In U.S. economic news, the Commerce Department said consumer prices in the U.S. increased slightly less than expected in April.
Closer to home, Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data today, including April figures for unemployment, industrial production, retail sales, housing starts and construction orders, plus May figures for Tokyo inflation.
In March, the jobless rate was 2.7 percent, while industrial production was down 0.4 percent on month and sales climbed 1.7 percent on month. Housing starts tumbled 29.3 percent on year and construction orders slumped an annual 14.4 percent. In April, Tokyo inflation, both overall and core, were up 1.5 percent on year.
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