Nikkei Rally May Stall as Tech Selloff on Wall Street Threatens Japan Stocks

Japan's Nikkei may face profit-taking Friday after three straight sessions of gains totaling more than 2,450 points, or 4 percent, pushing the index above the 64,650-point mark. The soft global forecast for Asian markets follows a weak Wall Street close. The Nikkei finished Thursday at 64,659.47, up 705.28 points, or 1.10 percent, after trading between 63,749.20 and 64,831.29, lifted by food, technology and semiconductor shares. In the U.S., the Dow fell 132.54 points (0.25 percent) to 52,342.56, the NASDAQ tumbled 365.13 points (1.38 percent) to 26,184.72, and the S&P 500 sank 23.59 points (0.30 percent) to 7,720.39. Alphabet (GOOGL) plunged 13.2 percent on weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue and negative free cash flow. The Bank of Japan is expected to hold its benchmark rate at 1.25 percent.