Nikkei Rallies, Faces Resistance in Anemic Trading

Not a bad way to start the week, but the 1.7% N225 (stock average; futures +1.6%) rally to 12,878 (and 12,870) fell short of the 12,920 N225 futures close Friday in Chicago (chart courtesy of Bloomberg). Both equities and futures met resistance at 12,950 and trading activity (volume and turnover) for the broader TOPIX was anemic.

As expected, Japan's financial press cited investor concerns over the U.S. economy as the reason a lot of money remains on the sidelines, as investors are waiting to see how the latest economic data reads.