Japan Shares May Stop The Bleeding On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market has tracked lower in four straight sessions, dropping more than 1,320 points or 2.4 percent along the way. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 53,700-point plateau although it may find support on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets suggests mild upside ahead of the U.S. monetary policy announcement later today. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian bourses are expected to follow that lead.

The Nikkei finished slightly lower on Tuesday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers.

For the day, the index shed 50.76 points or 0.09 percent to finish at 53,700.39 after trading between 53,482.59 and 54,388.43. Among the actives, Nissan Motor climbed 1.19 percent, while Mazda Motor shed 0.44 percent, Toyota Motor accelerated 1.23 percent, Honda Motor dipped 0.19 percent, Softbank Group tumbled 1.80 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial collected 0.97 percent, Mizuho Financial added 0.57 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial advanced 0.91 percent, Mitsubishi Electric jumped 1.98 percent, Sony Group retreated 1.68 percent, Panasonic Holdings vaulted 1.24 percent and Hitachi perked 0.02 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is firm as the major averages opened higher on Tuesday and remained in the green throughout the day, although off session highs.

The Dow added 46.85 points or 0.10 percent to finish at 46,993.26, while the NASDAQ climbed 105.35 points or 0.47 percent to end at 22,479.53 and the S&P 500 added 16.71 points or 0.25 percent to close at 6,716.09.

The early strength on Wall Street came as traders attempted to shrug off the recent volatility shown by the price of crude oil, which has been a key driver of trading in recent sessions.

Crude oil prices surged Tuesday as Iran stepped up its attack on energy infrastructure in the Middle East in its war against the U.S. and Israel. West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was up $2.57 or 2.75 percent at $96.07 per barrel.

The Israeli military also said it had begun a "wide-scale wave of strikes" across Iran's capital and was also stepping up strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Traders were also reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement. While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, traders will pay close attention to central bank officials' latest projections.

Closer to home, Japan will release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance later this morning. Imports are expected to climb 11.5 percent on year after sinking 2.6 percent in January. Exports are called higher by an annual 1.6 percent, moderating from 16.8 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at485.0 billion yen following the 1.152 trillion yen shortfall a month earlier.