Nikkei set to rise on Wall St; gains seen limited

TOKYO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to
rise on Friday, with shares of exporters seen regaining ground
after improving trends in the U.S. job market and a decline in
the October trade deficit lifted Wall Street.

Sapporo Holdings (2501.T) may draw attention after the brewer
said it would enter the Vietnamese market by taking a 65 percent
stake in a beer joint venture with Vietnam National Tobacco Corp
to tap the fast-growing market. [ID:nTOE5B90A2]

"The market is likely to start higher after gains in overseas
markets and a halt in the yen's advance against the dollar," said
Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

"But gains may be limited as there appears to be few
investors willing to buy once the Nikkei goes above 10,000,
partly due to uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and
unstable moves in the currency market after a string of events
including the downgrade of Greece."

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Greece's debt rating, while
Moody's cut the ratings of six Dubai-linked issuers after
concluding that no "meaningful" government support would be
provided to top firms like DP World. [ID:nGEE5B71A1]
[ID:nGEE5B70U3]

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Wednesday warned that
Spain risks a debt downgrade in two years if the government does
not take tough action on its fiscal deficit. [ID:nGEE5B820M]

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 2Nkc1 closed at 9,930, up
1 percent from the Osaka close JNIc1.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 is likely to move between 9,850
and 10,050, market players said. It fell 1.4 percent the previous
day to 9,862.82, falling for a third day after having gained
nearly 12 percent in a six-day rally to Monday.

Settlement of Nikkei futures and options takes place on
Friday, the so-called major "special quotation" or "SQ", and the
event is likely to pass without causing much volatility in the
market, Miura said.

The S&P 500 Index .SPX ended up 0.6 percent. The Labor
Department said weekly jobless claims rose more than expected
last week, but investors took comfort in the four-week average, a
better view of underlying trends, which fell to the lowest since
September last year.

A separate report showed the trade deficit shrank 7.6 percent
as a weak dollar helped boost U.S. exports of goods and services
to their highest in nearly a year. [ID:nN10156007]

The dollar JPY= was steady against the yen in early Asian
trade after breaking below 88 yen. Investors fret about a
stronger yen as it eats into exporters' profits when they are
repatriated.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2301 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1102.35 0.58% 6.400
USD/JPY JPY= 88.27 0.01% 0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.5005 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 1129.8 -0.03% -0.350
US CRUDE CLc1 70.59 0.07% 0.050
DOW JONES .DJI 10405.83 0.67% 68.78
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Wall Street ends up after jobs, trade data [.N]
> US dollar flat vs euro, aussie, kiwi up on rate outlook [USD/]
> Bad bond auction brings US debt woes back to fore [US/]
> Gold rises; funds buy after 4 days of decline [GOL/]
> Oil drops for 7th session on demand concerns [O/R]

STOCKS TO WATCH

-- Panasonic Corp (6752.T), Sanyo Electric Co Ltd 6764.T

Panasonic said on Thursday it had acquired 50.2 percent of
Sanyo, the world's largest rechargeable battery maker, completing
a long-delayed 403.8 billion yen ($4.6 billion) deal.
[ID:nTOE5B907U]

-- Shinsei Bank Ltd (8303.T)

Shinsei Bank is close to finding a buyer for a building in
central Tokyo in a roughly $1.6 billion deal, two sources with
direct knowledge of the sale said. [ID:nTOE5B90AP]
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)