Nikkei seen rising, weaker yen to offset S&P downgrade

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is expected to rise on Friday despite Standard & Poor's downgrade of Japan's sovereign debt late the previous day, as the yen's weakening will likely help shares of exporters rise.

The yen fell to two-month lows against the euro and two-week troughs versus the dollar on Thursday after Standard & Poor's cut Japan's long-term debt rating by one notch to AA minus, saying the country's government lacked a coherent plan to tackle its mounting debt.

"Any short-term impact on the stock market should be limited or rather positive due to the weaker yen," said Norihiro Fujito, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

"But in the mid to long term, it would be negative as the rating reflects the country's current fiscal position, therefore funds that have been overweight on Japan since last November may reconsider their positions on Japan."

The S&P move matched an earlier ratings cut by Fitch and raised concerns about the risks of downgrades for other developed economies.

"The market may be strong in the morning, but in the afternoon, investors may become cautious about Asian stocks moves," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.

He said investors remain wary about Chinese stock moves due to China's launch of property tax.

The benchmark Nikkei is expected to trade in a range of 10,400-10,600, analysts said. The Nikkei ended up 0.7 percent at 10,478.66 Thursday, with technical sentiment brightening slightly after it broke through its 25-day moving average, now at 10,415.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 10,515, up from 10,480 in Osaka.

STOCKS TO WATCH

--Honda Motor Co

Carmaker Honda Motor Co likely doubled group operating profit for the nine months ended December to 500 billion yen ($6.08 billion), its target for the full year, on the back of robust emerging markets and North American sales, the Nikkei business daily reported.

The company may upgrade its 2010 operating profit of 500 billion yen on the surprise earnings recovery, the paper said.

--Sony Corp

Sony unveiled a new handheld gaming device and announced it would make PlayStation games available on other makers' hardware, as it battles with Nintendo's DS and tries to fend off competition from Apple Inc's iPhone.

--Nintendo Co Ltd

Nintendo reported a 46 percent fall in quarterly profit, as sales of its aging DS handheld device tumbled ahead of the launch of a new, 3D-capable model next month.

--Canon Inc

Canon forecast its operating profit would rise by one-fifth this year as the Japanese camera and copier giant outperforms rivals on strong sales of its EOS and IXY digital cameras and cost cuts.

(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Chris Gallagher)