Japan stocks seen up on soft yen, US holiday sales

TOKYO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks are seen likely to
extend gains on Wednesday helped by a softer yen and relatively
solid U.S. holiday spending, particularly benefiting exporters
such as Sony Corp (6758.T).

The U.S. stock market rallied on Monday led by financial
companies. It was closed on Tuesday for Christmas.

Another focus in the market may be Kansai Electric Power Co
Inc (9503.T) and Sumitomo Corp (8053.T). The Nikkei business
daily reported they will team up with a state-run Kazakh
resources company to process uranium for nuclear power
generation.

"The market will likely hover around yesterday's levels as
there is no additional news for trade on following a market
holiday in the United States," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general
manager in the equity marketing department at Daiwa Securities
SMBC.

"Still, investors will likely pick up exporters sensitive to
consumption as U.S. Christmas sales were fairly solid. The softer
yen trend also helps."

U.S. retailers' holiday shopping season sales rose 3.6
percent up to Dec. 24, at the lower end of expectations, helped
by a late-season spending surge on some items, according to data
released on Tuesday by SpendingPulse. [ID:nN25273]

The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 ended Tuesday up 1.9
percent at 15,552.59, the highest close since Dec. 12.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT -----------------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1496.45 0.81% 11.990
USD/JPY JPY= 114.31 0.19% 0.240
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 4.2144 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 806.6 0.00% 0.000
US CRUDE CLc1 94.13 0.00% 0.820
DOW JONES .DJI 13549.33 0.73% 98.68
-------------------------------------------------------------
>Santa visits Wall St as Merrill deal lifts banks [.N]
>Yen rebounds on profit-taking in thin trade [USD/]
>Pre-Christmas stock rally sends bonds lower [US/]
>Platinum falls from record high, TOCOM hits record [GOL/]
>Oil little changed above $93, trade muted by hols [O/R]
STOCKS TO WATCH

-- Central Japan Railway (9022.T)

Central Japan Railway (JR Tokai) announced plans on Tuesday
to invest 5.1 trillion yen ($44.69 billion) to build a magnetic
levitation train line to offer a faster service between Tokyo and
Nagoya.

It said it would self-finance the project and aim to start
operations in 2025.

-- Sanyo Electric (6764.T)

The struggling electronics maker, which is restructuring with
the help of shareholder Goldman Sachs (GS.N), said on Tuesday it
made incorrect dividend payments worth 28 billion yen between
2002 and 2004. [ID:nT198529]

-- McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) Ltd (2702.Q)

The restaurant chain said on Tuesday it had raised its
outlook for 2007 thanks to strong sales, buoyed by the popularity
of a new menu, expansion of 24-hour operations and revamping of
old stores.

The company now expects an operating profit of 16.9 billion
yen, up 9 percent from the upper range of the previous forecast
of 11-15.5 billion yen. The latest forecast will mark 2.3 fold
growth from the last year.

-- Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T)

Japan's second-largest bank said on Tuesday it will pay 23.5
billion yen for a 4.13 percent stake in Credit Saison Co Ltd
(8253.T) to strengthen its mileage card business. [ID:nT207914]

-- Asahi Breweries Ltd (2502.T)

Asahi Breweries will likely report a group operating profit
of 84.5 billion yen for the year to Dec. 31, a fall of 5 percent
from a year earlier and short of the company's 88 billion yen
forecast, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

The shortfall is attributed to sluggish sales of beer and
so-called "third beer" nonmalt beverages, the newspaper said.

-- Goodwill Group Inc (4723.T)

The provider of temporary staffing services said on Tuesday
it would cut the number of its business outlets to about 400 from
737 in the wake of the government's plan to possibly suspend
operations at its branches for illegal activities.

Goodwill also lowered its earnings projections for the
business year to next June 30 saying it now expects to break even
on a group net basis instead of the 12 billion yen profit under a
previous estimate.

-- Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings <4188.T

Mitsubishi Chemical said on Tuesday it expects to be able to
supply petrochemical raw materials and products to its customers
through to the end of the year despite a fire at Japan's biggest
ethylene plant. [ID:nT206381]

-- Tsukamoto Corp (8025.T), Ichida Co Ltd 8019.T

Apparel firm Tsukamoto said on Tuesday will acquire a 51
percent stake in rival Ichida through a tender offer valued at
924 million yen or 57 yen per share.

After the tender offer, Tsukamoto will buy out the rest of
Ichida through a share swap with a ratio of 0.5 Tsukamoto share
for each Ichida share, the company said.
($1=114.12 Yen)
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi, Editing by Michael Watson)