TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - The Japan stock market headed south again on Thursday, one day after ending the two-day slide in which it had tumbled almost 1,300 points or 2 percent. The Nikkei now sits just above the 62,900-point plateau and it may take further damage again on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative on rising oil prices and continued pressure on the technology sectors. The European and U.S. markets were mostly lower on Thursday and the Asian markets are expected to open in similar fashion.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Thursday following losses among the technology, manufacturing, finance and resource sectors.
For the day, the index tanked 1,713.40 points or 2.65 percent to finish at the daily low of 62,907.84 after peaking at 64,866.44.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Thursday and largely stayed that way, although the Dow managed to peak above the line at the close.
The Dow rose 11.89 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 52,867.98, while the NASDAQ plunged 694.00 points or 2.60 percent to end at 26,008.86 and the S&P 500 slumped 93.74 points or 1.21 percent to close at 7,663.43.
The sharp pullback on Wall Street came as tech stocks came under pressure amid renewed concerns about debt-fueled AI infrastructure spending. Concern about artificial intelligence trade seems to shift on a daily basis, contributing to substantial volatility in the markets.
Stocks such as Nvidia (NVDA), CoreWeave (CRWV), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) were down on liquidity concerns.
Crude oil prices surged on Thursday on rising concerns of long-term supply disruptions following reports that the U.S. and Israel are planning a joint military operation against Iran after the U.S. midterm elections in November. West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery was up $2.19 or 2.25 percent at $99.34 per barrel.
Closer to home, Japan will release September figures for consumer prices later today, in August, overall inflation was up 0.1 percent on month and 1.9 percent on year, while core CPI rose an annual 1.7 percent.
Japan also will see preliminary October results for the manufacturing, services and composite PMIs from S&P Global; in September, their scores were 54.1, 51.3 and 52.3, respectively.
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