(RTTNews) – The Japan stock market has finished lower in three straight trading days, stumbling almost 3,000 points or 4.8 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just beneath the 66,820-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is negative thanks to renewed hostilities in the Middle East. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were mixed and the Asian markets figure to split the difference.
The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Wednesday following losses from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.
For the day, the index tumbled 1,437.91 points or 2.11 percent to finish at the daily low of 66,819.05 after peaking at 68,432.68.
The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages spent most of the day in the red before finally ending the session mixed.
The Dow tumbled 576.76 points or 1.09 percent to finish at 52,348.39, while the NASDAQ rose 51.96 points or 0.20 percent to close at 25,870.65 and the S&P 500 slipped 21.14 points or 0.28 percent to end at 7,482.71.
The early weakness on Wall Street came amid concerns about a re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East after President Donald Trump declared the U.S.-Iran ceasefire “over.”
Crude oil prices skyrocketed on Wednesday amid renewed Middle East tensions after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fresh strikes. West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery was up $3.16 or 4.49 percent at $73.60 per barrel.
However, stocks regained ground over the course of the session as crude oil prices pullback off their highs of the session.
Housing stocks moved sharply lower on concerns about the outlook for interest rates, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down by 3.8 percent. Substantial weakness was also visible among gold stocks, which tumbled along with the price of the precious metal.
Closer to home, Japan will provide June data for its M2 money stock later this morning, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 2.4 percent on year, easing from 2.5 percent in May.
