Daiwa says it will report 2008/09 net loss

TOKYO, April 7 (Reuters) - Daiwa Securities Group Inc (8601.T), Japan's second-largest brokerage, said on Tuesday it would post a group net loss for the year to March, due to a drop in value in its equity holdings.

Daiwa said it would post a 17.4 billion yen ($173 million) loss from its equity investments for the period.

The brokerage, which competes with larger rival Nomura Holdings (8604.T), posted a 67.7 billion yen net loss for the nine months to December, tumbling from a 59.3 billion yen profit in the same period a year earlier.

Shares in Daiwa closed up 2 percent at 514 yen, ahead of the announcement, compared with a 0.28 percent drop in the benchmark Nikkei average .N225.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Erica Billingham)