Japan Stock Market Poised To Open Under Water

(RTTNews) - The Japanese stock market on Monday wrote a finish to the four-day winning streak in which it had jumped more than 1,600 points or 3.1 percent. The Nikkei 225 now sits just above the 49,300-point plateau and it may see continued consolidation on Tuesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is soft, with profit taking expected after recent strength. The European and U.S. markets were down and the Asian bourses are expected to open in similar fashion.

The Nikkei finished sharply lower on Monday following losses from the technology stocks and automobile producers, while the financial sector offered mild support.

For the day, the index plunged 950.63 points or 1.89 percent to finish at 49,303.28 after trading between 49,215.96 and 50,366.74. Among the actives, Nissan Motor stumbled 2.39 percent, while Mazda Motor fell 0.31 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.63 percent, Honda Motor tanked 2.35 percent, Softbank Group contracted 1.72 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial jumped 1.63 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 0.51 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rallied 1.55 percent, Mitsubishi Electric rose 0.24 percent, Sony Group plunged 3.52 percent, Panasonic Holdings tumbled 3.31 percent and Hitachi sank 2.09 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is weak as the major averages opened lower on Monday and remained in the red throughout the trading day.

The Dow tumbled 427.09 points or 0.90 percent to finish at 47,289.33, while the NASDAQ sank 89.76 points or 0.38 percent to close at 23,275.92 and the S&P 500 lost 36.46 points or 0.53 percent to end at 6,812.63.

The weakness on Wall Street came as traders looked to cash in on last week's rally, which saw the major averages stage a significant recovery from the sharp pullback seen in November.

The major averages had closed higher for five consecutive sessions last week, clawing their way back toward record highs.

Stocks had recently benefited from renewed optimism about the outlook for interest rates following dovish comments from leading Federal Reserve officials. However, the release of key U.S. economic data in the coming days could impact Fed officials' thinking.

Crude oil prices surged on Monday as the U.S. dollar came under pressure amid rate cut expectations. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery was up $0.75 or 1.28 percent at $59.30 per barrel.

Closer to home, Japan will release November data for monetary base and household confidence later today. The monetary base is expected to show an 8.5 percent annual decline following the 7.9 percent drop in October. The household confidence index is tipped to show a score of 36.3, up from 35.8 in the previous month.