Friday October 10, 12:30 AM
Japan stocks set to fall after Wall St dive
TOKYO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks are likely to fall on Friday after U.S stocks plummeted as investors bet recent moves by authorities worldwide to thaw frozen credit markets would not be enough to avert a global recession.
'We lack reasons to actively buy stocks now though they have become rather cheap,' said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities.
'The market is focusing on steps to deal with the clogged U.S financial system ... The clogging is putting even healthy companies under pressure.'
Nikkei (news) futures traded in Chicago closed at 8,615, below 585 points from their close in Osaka, pointing to a sharply lower opening.
Market participants expect the benchmark Nikkei to trade between 8,500 and 9,000 on Friday. It finished the previous day down 0.5 percent at 9,157.49, its lowest close since June 2003.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 7.3 percent to 8,579.19 on Thursday, with bank and insurance stocks hammered again, as the previous day's coordinated global interest-rate cuts and myriad other official measures to unfreeze money markets did little to boost confidence in the financial sector.
> Recession fear plunders Wall St, Dow dives 678.91
> US dollar up as cash is hoarded, market looks to G7
> Bonds recoil as supply outweighs panic in stocks
> Gold ends down on cash run as stocks decline
> US oil prices drop more than $1 after settlement
STOCKS TO WATCH
-- New City Residence Investment and other REITs
New City said on Thursday it had filed for court protection from creditors with $1.1 billion in debt, the first Japanese real estate investment trust (REIT) to fail as fallout from the credit crunch spreads.
-- Fast Retailing Co Ltd (Frankfurt: 891638 - news)
The operator of Uniqlo casual clothing chain on Thursday reported a 34.7 percent growth in its operating profit for the year ended in August, thanks to strong sales at home, and gave an outlook above the market forecast.
The firm said its full-year operating profit came at 87.5 billion yen, as its earnings were also buoyed by Uniqlo overseas business, which turned in a profit for the first time. For the current year, it forecast 6.3 percent growth in operating profit at 93 billion yen.
--Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd,
Japan's largest retailer eked out a 3 percent rise in first-half profit and kept its outlook on Thursday as strong growth in its convenience store business helped it weather a slowing economy.[ID:nT132763]
Seven & I, which operates the Ito-Yokada supermarket chain, said its operating profit rose to 148 billion yen in the first half ended Aug. 31, falling a bit short of its own forecast of 150 billion yen.
-- Tokyo Electron Ltd (Frankfurt: 865510 - news)
Tokyo Electron said on Thursday that orders for its machines to make chips and flat panel displays rose a quarterly 0.3 percent on rising demand from makers of data processing chips. [ID:nT166373]
-- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (MUFG)
Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS - news) plunged by as much as 25 percent on Thursday on concern about the status of a planned $9 billion investment by MUFG. Morgan (MGHL.PK - news) said the deal was still scheduled to close on Tuesday.
-- Toyota Motor Corp (Frankfurt: 853510 - news)
Toyota said on Thursday it could extend an unprecedented offer of interest-free loans on most of its lineup but expects to be able to hold 2009 sales flat in a slumping U.S. auto market. [ID:nN09318203]
-- Mitsubishi Electric Corp (Paris: JP3902400005 - news)
Mitsubishi Electric is expected to post a group operating profit of about 125 billion yen for the April-September half, topping a forecast by about 15 billion yen, after demand for heavy equipment exceeded expectations, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.
-- Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (Munich: 858920 - news)
Kawasaki Heavy plans to build its first Brazilian motorcycle plant by 2010 with an eye toward supplying upscale models, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi)
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