Nikkei 225 gaps into 21,650.00 as Japan household spending misses, tariff fears resurface

• Nikkei opens Asia session on the retreat as trade wars return to the headlines following Thursday's relief rally.
• Japanese household spending contracts further than expected, taking the top off of risk appetite for Tokyo markets.

The Nikkei 225 index is trading up into 21,700.00 after opening Friday sharply lower on renewed trade tariff tensions and a disappointing miss for Japanese household spending.

Japan's leading stock index, the Nikkei 225, climbed Thursday's global market to a high of 21,915.00, but gapped lower at the start of the Asia session as the US considers doubling down on tariffs aimed at China, sinking to 21,585.00 in the overnight session. Adding to uncertainty in the Tokyo is the miss for Japanese Household Spending, which posted an unexpected miss of 0.1 percent, undercutting the expected 0.3 percent figure and showing a worse-than-expected contraction from the previous reading of 1.9 percent.

Further reading: Japan household spending posts biggest drop in nearly a year: Reuters

Nikkei Levels to watch

With trade war fears and middling data for the Japanese economy continuing to plague risk sentiment in the Asia market sessions, the Nikkei index is going to have an uphill battle to continue gaining value, but if support from last week's high at 21,600.00 can hold, then bulls will have a fresh foothold to challenge resistance at March's high of 22,100.00, with further resistance at February's major swing high at 22,500.00, but a continuation of the bearish play will see further support at the week's last swing low of 21,050.00.