Nikkei slips below 9,000, Softbank surges

* Nikkei dips 0.6 pct to below 9,000
* Toshiba rises after U.S. approves new nuclear reactors
* Shippers surge after tariff rise recommendation
* Softbank climbs on news of Alibaba.com proposed deal

By Mari Saito and Dominic Lau
TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
edged below 9,000 on Friday as caution prevailed on Greece even
after leaders in Athens clinched a long-delayed bailout deal,
but euro zone finance ministers urged the country to commit to
more reforms.
Softbank surged 3.7 percent and topped the turnover list
after sources said Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group
plans to take private its Hong Kong-listed unit Alibaba.com
, in which the Japanese telecom firm has an indirect
stake.
"The stock (Softbank) is receiving some uplift from the
Chinese Internet rerating story," a trader at a foreign bank
said.
Softbank's trading volume was more than double its average
daily 90-day volume.
Shippers, which were battered last year on
concerns over global growth and rising fuel prices, cruised
1 percent higher after transpacific container shippers
recommended a general rate rise of $300 per 40-foot unit from
March 15 and another increase in May to restore rates from
loss-making levels.
A sector upgrade by JPMorgan to "overweight" from "neutral"
also boosted shipping stocks.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd rose 1.2 percent, while
rivals Nippon Yusen KK climbed 1.3 percent.
The Nikkei dipped 0.6 percent to 8,947.17, with the
200-day moving average near 9,057 acting as resistance. The
benchmark has still managed to rise 1.3 percent this week. The
broader Topix eased 0.7 percent to 779.07.

"Foreign investors shed a lot of their positions last year
on risk-off sentiment, so right now they're buying back Japanese
equities. It's not that they're overweight at all," said Yutaka
Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities. "Domestic
investors would rather take profits now ahead of the March
earnings season, and the 9,000 level is a good point to sell for
many Japanese investors."
After the close, the Osaka Securities Exchange said that
January options were settled at 9,011.16, a key target level,
market participants said, for the market to test next week.
Trading volume was moderate, with 2.36 billion shares
changing hands on the main board, down from 2.67 billion shares
on Thursday.
Toshiba Corp added 1.5 percent after the
U.S. nuclear regulatory agency approved plans by Southern Co
to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors
through the Japanese firm's U.S. unit Westinghouse.

Yamada Denki Co Ltd, a large discount home
electronics retailer, soared 9 percent after analysts said it
was maintaining a high recurring profit margin thanks to
effective management of cash discounts and a loyalty point
scheme, despite declines in sales in the third quarter.

CASHING IN
Japan Tobacco, however, shed 4.7 percent after
ramping up nearly 12 percent in the previous three sessions
after the company revised up its annual guidance and dividend
outlook on Monday.
Investors also locked in profit on banks after the sector
rallied more than 12 percent this year after last
year's 21 percent drop.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui
Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group
shed between 1.6 and 2.8 percent. They were still hovering close
to "overbought" territory, with their 14-day relative strength
indexes around 70.
Japan's corporate earnings results have been disappointing
so far. Out of 138 Nikkei companies that have reported,
two-thirds of them failed to meet market expectations, Thomson
Reuters StarMine data showed. That compares with 34 percent for
S&P 500 companies.
The weak earnings have not deterred the rally in Japanese
equities, however, boosted by a brightening outlook for the
United States and an injection of 489 billion euros ($650.57
billion) of three-year loans by the European Central Bank.
The Nikkei is up 5.8 percent so far this year after shedding
17.3 percent in 2011.