Nikkei seen lower on Wall St, earnings awaited

TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average is likely to
come under pressure on Monday after U.S. industrial companies'
weak results hurt Wall Street and on investor caution before
Japanese earnings season heats up later in the week.

Toshiba Corp (6502.T), Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) and Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries (7011.T) may draw attention after the Nikkei
business daily reported the firms are looking to develop small
nuclear reactors for use by developing nations, among others.
[ID:nT288782]

"The market is likely to be soft, weighed down by a fall in
U.S. stocks, rather than helped by a softer yen, as the market
waits for earnings reports," said Yutaka Miura, a senior
technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.

"No specific sector is likely to drive trade, with commodity
markets also being steady."

Steelmaker JFE Holdings Inc (5411.T) is among Japanese
companies set to report earnings later in the day.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 2NKc1 finished at
10,255.00 on Friday, down 0.3 percent from the Osaka close
JNIc1, pointing to a slightly lower start.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 is likely to move between 10,100
and 10,350 on Monday, market players said. It edged up 0.2
percent on Friday to 10,282.99.

The Nikkei gained 0.2 percent on the week, with investors
reluctant to actively take positions ahead of Japanese corporate
earnings and a raft of economic indicators in Japan and the
United States this week.

The dollar was trading around 92.10 yen JPY= in early Asia
trade. Many Japanese exporters have set their currency rate
assumptions at 90-95 yen for the year to March.

The S&P 500 Index .SPX dropped 1.2 percent on Friday.
Shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp (BNI.N), the
second-biggest U.S. railroad, slid after an RBC Capital analyst
cut his price target on the stock. [.N]
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2304 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1079.6 -1.22% -13.310
USD/JPY JPY= 92.1 -0.03% -0.030
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.49 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 1053 -0.09% -0.950
US CRUDE CLc1 79.77 -0.91% -0.730
DOW JONES .DJI 9972.18 -1.08% -109.13
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Wall St falls on weak industrials; transports drag [.N]
> Sterling tumbles as UK GDP disappoints; dollar gains [USD/]
> Strong home sales, supply, rate worries weigh [US/]
> Gold drops as dollar rebounds [GOL/]
> Oil falls toward $80 as dollar firms, stocks fall [O/R]
STOCKS TO WATCH

-- Japan Airlines (9205.T)

The Japanese government plans to put a state-backed
turnaround body in charge of the overhaul of Japan Airlines
(JAL), the Nikkei business daily said, underlining the
government's deeper involvement in the process. [ID:nT276479]

Separately, the Yomiuri newspaper reported the government has
begun looking into special legislation to deal with the
restructuring of struggling JAL.

The Yomiuri said the special legislation would force the
airline to reduce pension payments and that reaching a solution
on that issue, a major hurdle in discussions, could prompt
creditors to take a more favourable stance towards the airline.
[ID:nT289312]

--Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T)

Toyota said on Friday it would merge its housing production
and technology development operations with its home building
unit. [ID:nT269198]

-- Konica Minolta Holdings Inc (4902.T)

Konica Minolta Holdings said it plans to cut costs by 38
billion yen ($416 million) or more in the year to March, up from
its original target of 33 billion yen, to shore up profitability.
[ID:nT305801]

Separately, the company cut its annual profit forecast by 24
percent on slow copier demand, casting a shadow over the
performance of other office machine makers such as Canon and
Ricoh. [ID:nT263193]

--United Arrows (7606.T)

The fashion retailer said it is likely to report first-half
operating profit 36 percent higher than its own previous estimate
as cost-cutting efforts more than offset weaker-than-expected
sales.

The company said it now expects to report a 1.6 billion yen
operating profit for the six months ended in September, up from
1.2 billion yen in the earlier forecast.

--Daiwa Securities Group (8601.T)

Daiwa Securities, Japan's second-largest brokerage, said it
would aim to start an Internet banking service in 2011.

The move comes about a month after Daiwa and lender Sumitomo
Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) agreed to end their investment
banking joint venture. [ID:nT263675]

- Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (7012.T)

A Qingdao railcar maker with a technology licensing agreement
with Kawasaki Heavy Industries received an order worth 45 billion
yuan ($6.6 billion) to build high-speed railway cars to connect
Beijing and Shanghai, the Nikkei business daily said.

Railway parts makers, such as Hitachi Ltd (6501.T), Toyo
Electric (6655.NG) and Nabtesco Corp (6268.T) could also see more
business in China, the paper said.
($1=6.828 Yuan)
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)