Japan Stock Market May Extend Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - The Japan stock market has finished higher in four straight sessions, improving more than 3,800 points or 7.2 percent along the way. The Nikkei finished just above the 56,300-point plateau and it's expected to open to the upside again on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on news of the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran - although the Asian markets have already reacted to this news, so the upside may be more measured than the spikes in the European and U.S. markets.

The Nikkei finished sharply higher with gains across the board, especially among the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers. For the day, the index skyrocketed 2,878.86 points or 5.39 percent to finish at 56,308.42 after trading between 54,380.02 and 56,424.63. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 4.04 percent, while Mazda Motor spiked 4.37 percent, Toyota Motor expanded 4.06 percent, Honda Motor climbed 2.52 percent, Softbank Group soared 7.21 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial gained 2.63 percent, Mizuho Financial surged 6.22 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial collected 3.75 percent, Mitsubishi Electric jumped 4.33 percent, Sony Group advanced 2.33 percent, Panasonic Holdings rallied 4.23 percent and Hitachi strengthened 3.17 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is broadly positive as the major averages opened sharply higher and stayed that way throughout the trading day, ending at session highs.

The Dow surged 1,325.46 points or 2.85 percent to finish at 47,909.92, while the NASDAQ rallied 617.14 points or 2.80 percent to end at 22,634.99 and the S&P 500 jumped 165.96 points or 2.51 percent to close at 6,782.81.

The initial surge on Wall Street came in reaction to news that the U.S., Israel and Iran have agreed to a two-week ceasefire.

President Donald Trump said he has agreed to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for two weeks subject to Tehran agreeing to the complete and immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz.

A subsequent statement from Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened for a period of two weeks if the attacks against Iran are halted.

Crude oil prices went into a tailspin Wednesday as supply-disruption risks dissipated following a two-week ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran. West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery was down $18.15 or 16.07 percent at $94.80 per barrel.