TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japanese stock market has finished lower in two straight sessions, crashing almost 1,500 points or 2.2 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 68,250-point plateau and it's expected to open in the red again on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft on renewed hostilities in the Middle East and the corresponding jump in oil prices. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were down and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index plunged 14,80.73 points or 2.12 percent to finish at 68,256.96 after trading between 68,003.92 and 69,957.51.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened mixed but quickly turned lower and spent the balance of the day under water, finishing off session lows.
The Dow sank 130.76 points or 0.25 percent to finish at 52,925.15, while the NASDAQ slumped 302.47 points or 1.16 percent to end at 25,818.69 and the S&P 500 lost 33.58 points or 0.45 percent to close at 7,503.85.
The slump by the NASDAQ came amid a sharp pullback by semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plummeting by 4.7 percent.
Gold, airline and computer hardware stocks also saw considerable weakness, while energy, pharmaceutical and healthcare stocks turned in strong performances.
Crude oil prices spiked on Tuesday as concerns of fresh U.S.-Iran conflicts surfaced after attacks on at least three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $2.01 or 2.93 percent at $70.56 per barrel.
Energy stocks benefited from that sharp increase by the price of crude oil, although the spike in prices weighed on other sectors.
Closer to home, Japan will provide May figures for current account and June data for bank lending later this morning. The current account is expected to show a surplus of 4.121 trillion yen, up from 3.908 trillion yen in April. Overall bank lending is expected to climb 5.8 percent on year, up from 5.7 percent in May.
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