TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japan stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, stumbling almost 1,300 points or 2 percent along the way. The Nikkei now sits just above the 64,075-point plateau although it may find support on Wednesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is flat to slightly higher, thanks to a dip in oil prices. The European markets were slightly lower and the U.S. bourses were mostly higher and the Asian markets figure to follow with mild upside.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Tuesday following losses from the technology stocks, financial shares and automobile producers.
For the day, the index plunged 841.28 points or 1.30 percent to finish at 64,075.42 after trading between 63,807.15 and 64,822.22.
The lead from Wall Street is cautiously optimistic as the major averages opened mixed on Tuesday and generally trended higher before finishing mixed.
The Dow jumped 529.85 points or 1.02 percent to finish at 52,495.88, while the NASDAQ eased 6.07 points or 0.02 percent to close at 26,424.82 and the S&P 500 added 21.84 points or 0.28 percent to end at 7,712.57.
The advance by the Dow partly reflected a sharp increase by shares of 3M (MMM) after the Scotch-tape and Post-it maker reported better than expected third quarter earnings and raised its full-year profit forecast.
Dow components Amgen (AMGN), Merck (MRK) and UnitedHealth (UNH) also posted significant gains on the day.
Buying interest was also generated by a drop in the price of crude oil on reports that Qatar and Pakistan are pushing for a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery was down $1.76 or 1.82 percent at $101.84 per barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will release September figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to climb 19.6 percent on year, down from 28.0 percent in August. Exports are called higher by an annual 20.1 percent, up from 19.3 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at 181.0 billion after showing a 1,111.9 billion shortfall a month earlier.
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