As the Japanese stock market approaches the Coming of Age Day holiday on Monday, it has experienced a downturn over the past three sessions, losing nearly 900 points or 2.4%. The Nikkei 225 is currently just below the 39,200 mark and may see a subdued opening on Tuesday, affected by ongoing cautious sentiment. The global outlook for Asian markets is uncertain, with anticipated gains in oil companies likely being counterbalanced by declines in technology stocks. European markets showed a decline, whereas U.S. markets were mostly positive, suggesting a mixed outcome for Asian markets.
On Friday, the Nikkei experienced a significant drop, driven by downturns in financial, technology, and automotive sectors. The index fell by 414.70 points, or 1.05%, to close at 39,190.40 within a trading range of 39,166.05 to 39,591.46. Among the notable performers, Nissan Motor rose by 0.67%, while Mazda Motor decreased by 1.57%, Toyota Motor plummeted by 2.43%, and Honda Motor fell by 1.61%. Elsewhere, Softbank Group declined by 0.84%, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial slipped 0.73%, Mizuho Financial fell by 1.94%, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial dropped 2.24%, Mitsubishi Electric decreased 0.64%, Sony Group fell by 0.31%, Panasonic Holdings reduced by 0.95%, and Hitachi lost 2.53%.
Wall Street provided a mixed yet somewhat positive lead, with major indices starting on opposing sides of a neutral line and closing similarly on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 359.95 points or 0.86%, closing at 42,298.40. Conversely, the NASDAQ fell by 74.01 points or 0.39% to 19,087.62, while the S&P 500 gained 8.27 points or 0.14% to finish at 5,835.31.
The technology sector's weakness weighed on Wall Street early in the session, particularly as Nvidia, a prominent player, plummeted by as much as 4.7%. Concerns continued over interest rate forecasts following a stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report last Friday. Despite this, selling pressure eased throughout the trading session, encouraging some traders to purchase stocks at lower prices, as the S&P 500 recovered from its lowest intraday level in more than two months.
Oil prices surged to a five-month high on Monday, driven by the risk of supply constraints following extensive sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Russia's oil exports. A strengthening dollar also contributed to this effect. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures for February rose by $2.25 or almost 3%, closing at $78.82 per barrel. Looking at Japan, updated figures for November's current account and December's bank lending and eco watchers index are expected today. November saw a current account surplus of 2.456 trillion yen. In December, the bank lending rose by 3.0% year-on-year, with the eco watchers survey scoring 49.4.
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