TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japan stock market turned emphatically lower again on Friday, one session after snapping the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 3,200 points or 4.2 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 69,360-point plateau although it may see a mild rebound on Monday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to lower on concerns over the situation in the Middle East and on the outlook for interest rates. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were barely in the red and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Friday following heavy damage among the technology stocks, while the financials and automobile producers were mixed.
For the day, the index crashed 3,005.46 points or 4.15 percent to finish at 69,360.88 after trading between 68,639.84 and 71,786.28.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor shed 0.66 percent, while Mazda Motor added 0.64 percent, Toyota Motor accelerated 2.50 percent, Honda Motor spiked 2.51 percent, Softbank Group cratered 12.53 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.37 percent, Mizuho Financial advanced 0.89 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial gained 0.80 percent, Mitsubishi Electric tanked 2.14 percent, Sony Group perked 0.06 percent, Panasonic Holdings slumped 1.52 percent and Hitachi tumbled 1.67 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Friday, peeked back above the unchanged line by midday but slumped again heading into the close.
The Dow shed 44.51 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 51,876.11, while the NASDAQ sank 60.99 points or 0.24 percent to close at 25,297.62 and the S&P 500 eased 3.47 points or 0.05 percent to end at 7,354.02.
The weakness that emerged on Wall Street came un the ambiguity surrounding the peace process in the U.S.-Iran conflict, while the earlier positive bounce was the result of sliding crude oil prices.
Crude oil prices tumbled on Friday as optimism increases on resumption of oil flow from the Arab region. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was down $2.60 or 3.62 percent at $69.32 per barrel.
In economic news, revised data released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. rebounded slightly more than estimated in June. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for June was upwardly revised to 49.5 from the previously reported 48.9.
Closer to home, Japan will release May numbers for retail sales later this morning. Sales are expected to rise 3.1 percent on year, up from 2.1 percent in April. Japan also will see May figures for construction orders and housing starts; in April, they were down an annual 32.3 percent and up 11.4 percent, respectively.
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