Tokyo shares outlook - Higher on Wall St gains

Tokyo shares outlook - Higher on Wall St gains

	Published : Thu, 01 Feb 2007 23:41 By : Agencies Print this Story

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices are expected to open higher in response to the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a new record high overnight, dealers said.

But the gains may be trimmed in typical pre-weekend trading, as short-term players are expected to pocket profits, dealers said.

Some caution may also cap the upside as the market awaits the release of the the US non-farm payrolls data later in the day, they said.

In the US overnight, the Dow Jones industrial Average closed 51.99 points or 0.41 pct higher at 12,673.88, while the Nasdaq was up 4.45 points or 0.18 pct at 2,468.38. In Chicago, the Nikkei futures contract settled at 17,660 points, up from 17,560 at the Osaka Securities Exchange yesterday, suggesting a firm start for the market here.

Here yesterday, the blue-chip Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed 136.08 points or 0.78 pct higher at 17,519.50, while the broader TOPIX index of all first-section issues finished 16.62 points or 0.97 pct higher at 1,738.58.

Later today, the Bank of Japan will release the monetary base figures for last month.

Sumitomo Chemical, Eisai, Mitsubishi Electric, Nippon Oil, NTT and Nissak are among the companies that will release their results for the nine months to December.

Dealers said that stocks to watch included Matsushita Electric, after the company announced that its fiscal third-quarter operating profit had risen 5 pct from a year earlier to its highest level in 16 years, helped by strong sales of its flat--panel televisions.

Nikko Cordial Corp may fall after the securities broker said it had once again revised financial statements submitted to regulators after finding another accounting irregularity, dealers said.

They said Sumco Corp might move after a newspaper reported that the maker of silicon wafers planned to spend 350 bln yen to more than triple its capacity for producing advanced 300mm wafers to 2 mln a month by 2010.

Fujiya could move because the company and Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd will sign today a memorandum of understanding on working out an assistance package for Fujiya, dealers said.

They said Asahi Kasei Corp might advance after a newspaper reported that the chemical producer would spend 35 bln yen on a joint venture with state-run petroleum company PPT PLC to build a plant in Thailand that uses a new, low-cost methods to mass-produces acrylonitrile used in acrylic fibers and plastics.

Nikon Corp may be in focus after a newspaper reported that the company was expected to post a record group operating profit of 92 bln yen for the fiscal year ending March, 38 pct more than a year earlier, owing to the strength of sales of its single-lens reflex digital cameras.

(1 usd = 120.72 yen)

yasuhiko.seki@xfn.com