(RTTNews) – The Japan stock market has moved higher in five straight sessions, collecting more than 2,300 points or 5.6 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 40,500-point plateau and it may extend its gains again on Tuesday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed to higher on trade deal optimism. 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 Monday following gains from the financial shares, weakness from the automobile producers and a mixed picture from the technology stocks.
For the day, the index jumped 336.60 points or 0.84 percent to finish at 40,487.39 after trading between 40,322.54 and 40,852.54.
Among the actives, Nissan Motor shed 0.43 percent, while Mazda Motor tanked 2.74 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.35 percent, Honda Motor tumbled 1.86 percent, Softbank Group soared 4.32 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial eased 0.05 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.48 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rose 0.25 percent, Mitsubishi Electric lost 0.42 percent, Sony Group slumped 1.58 percent, Panasonic Holdings jumped 1.63 percent and Hitachi stumbled 1.75 percent.
The lead from Wall Street is positive as the major averages opened higher and remained in the green throughout the session, ending near daily highs.
The Dow jumped 275.50 points or 0.63 percent to finish at 44,094.77, while the NASDAQ climbed 96.28 points or 0.47 percent to close at 20,369.73 and the S&P 500 gained 31,88 points or 0.52 percent to end at 6,204.95.
The continued strength on Wall Street came amid ongoing optimism about trade deals ahead of the impending deadline for U.S. reciprocal tariffs early next month.
Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to news Canada has rescinded its digital services tax on American tech firms, which were initially set to begin being collected on Monday.
Crude oil prices closed lower on Monday amid a backdrop of easing Middle Eastern tensions and concerns of excess supply as OPEC plans to scale up production. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery closed down by $0.41 to settle at $65.11 per barrel.
Closer to home, the Bank of Japan will release its quarterly Tankan Survey of business sentiment later this morning. The large manufacturers index is expected to see a score of +10 with an outlook of +9; both showed +12 in the previous three months. Large industry capex was up 3.1 percent in the previous quarter, while small industry capex slumped 10.0 percent.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
