The Japanese stock market has finished lower in back-to-back sessions, dropping more than 400 points of 0.7 percent along the way. The Nikkei now sits just beneath the 62,420-point plateau although it may find traction on Tuesday. The global forecast for the Asian markets is mixed with a touch of upside as ambiguity continues to reign in the Middle East. The European markets were mixed and the U.S. bourses were slightly higher and the Asian markets figure to split the difference. The Nikkei finished modestly lower on Monday following mixed performances from the financial shares, technology stocks and automobile producers. For the day, the index sank 295.77 points or 0.47 percent to finish at 62,417.88 after trading between 62,380.62 and 63,385.04. Among the actives, Nissan Motor accelerated 1.30 percent, while Mazda Motor rose 0.31 percent, Toyota Motor retreated 1.48 percent, Honda Motor declined 1.42 percent, Softbank Group plunged 6.33 percent, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial jumped 1.78 percent, Mizuho Financial collected 1.76 percent, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial rallied 2.07 percent, Mitsubishi Electric fell 0.20 percent, Sony Group surged 8.29 percent, Panasonic Holdings added 0.48 percent and Hitachi slumped 1.03 percent. The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened mixed on Monday and largely hugged the line throughout the session, finishing with slight gains.
The Dow climbed 95.31 points or 0.19 percent to finish at 49,704.47, while the NASDAQ added 27.05 points or 0.10 percent to close at a record 26,274.13 and the S&P 500 rose 13.19 points or 0.19 percent to end at 7,412.84, also a record.
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Market Analysis
May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.