Nikkei likely to ease after rally, U.S. data eyed

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to ease on Monday, as investors could book profits after the index rallied nearly 8 percent last week, with concerns over the weakening global economy persisting.

One stock to watch will be Honda Motor Co, after a top executive at the car maker said it would have a tough time meeting its lowered annual profit forecasts due to an increasingly severe sales environment.

"The stock market is likely to have a breather after it rose quite a bit last week on expectations that governments' efforts would help the global economy," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

"Stock performance may be lacklustre this week as investors' attention will shift back to the deteriorating U.S. economy as many economic reports are due there," Takahashi said.

Market participants are eyeing a string of U.S. data this week, including monthly employment data on Friday.

They expect the Nikkei to move between 8,200 and 8,600 on Monday.

The Nikkei average rose 1.7 percent on Friday to 8,512.27. It jumped 7.6 percent last week, its best weekly performance in a month.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 8,515 on Friday compared to the Osaka close of 8,520.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2311 GMT ------------

LAST PCT CHG NET CHG

S&P 500 896.24 0.96% 8.560

USD/JPY 95.5 0.01% 0.010 10-YR US TSY YLD 2.9217 -- 0.000

SPOT GOLD 816.7 0.46% 3.700

US CRUDE 53.55 -1.62% -0.880

DOW JONES 8829.04 1.17% 102.43

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