TOKYO, June 23 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks are likely to fall
on Monday, led down by blue chip exporters and financials after
sharp losses on Wall Street on rising oil prices and warnings of
more mortgage-related write-downs at banks.
Japan's export-oriented corporate earnings are heavily
dependent on the health of the U.S. economy.
"The Tokyo market is likely to fall for the third day,
following the drop in U.S. stocks," said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy
general manager of equity department at Cosmo Securities.
"If the Nikkei goes below the recent low of June 13 (at
13,810.38), it will be negative in terms of technicals."
The Dow industrial average .DJI on Friday closed at its
second-lowest level this year and below 12,000 for the first time
since March 17.
Nikkei futures finished at 13,765 in Chicago 2NKc1, 195
points below their Osaka close JNIc1.
Market participants said they expect the benchmark Nikkei
.N225 to move between 13,700 and 14,100 on Monday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2253 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1317.93 -1.85% -24.900
USD/JPY JPY= 107.44 0.21% 0.220
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 4.168 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 903.7 0.32% 2.850
US CRUDE CLc1 134.89 -0.35% -0.460
DOW JONES .DJI 11842.69 -1.83% -220.40
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Dow closes below 12,000 on bank jitters, oil prices [.N]
> Dollar falls on credit jitters, Fed rate worries [USD/]
> Bonds up as stocks drop on banks, autos weakness [US/]
> Gold ends tad lower, focuses Saudi oil meeting [GOL/]
> Oil jumps on rising Iran-Israel tensions, Nigeria [O/R]
STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Taisei Corp (1801.T)
Construction firm Taisei has agreed with U.S.'s Bechtel to
expand their partnership to include overseas engineering works
especially in the Middle East and other emerging markets, the
Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.
The paper said Taisei aims to tap growing demand in emerging
countries in North Africa, Eastern Europe and elsewhere for
infrastructure projects in such areas as transportation, urban
development, airports and sea ports.
-- Sharp Corp (6753.T), Kyocera Corp (6971.T), Sanyo Electric
Co (6764.T), other solar power equipment makers
The Japanese government will come up with measures on Tuesday
to promote household use of solar power generation systems by
introducing subsidies and tax breaks from next year, the Nikkei
financial daily reported on Sunday.
The paper said the steps, which follow an environment
initiative announced earlier by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda,
include halving the cost to purchase power generation facilities
in Japan. [ID:nT205858]
-- Mitsui & Co (8031.T)
Trading house Mitsui said on Friday it has agreed with
Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) (PER.BA) to
start a $750 million deepwater drilling project for oil
exploration.
Their 50-50 venture, P&M Drilling International B.V., will
own the ultra-deepwater drillship, and the cost of the project
will be partly financed by syndicated lenders.
-- Nippon Oil Corp (5001.T), INPEX Holdings (1605.T)
Teikoku Oil and Nippon Oil are considering taking part in
exploration projects in the East China Sea after an agreement
between China and Japan on how to develop oil and gas in the
disputed waters, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday.
[ID:nT217575]
Teikoku Oil is a part of INPEX Holdings.
-- NEC Electronics Corp (6723.T), Elpida Memory Inc (6665.T)
NEC Electronics and Elpida announced a deal on Friday for NEC
Electronics to use Elpida's production lines to make chips that
control flat-panel displays, marking Elpida's first major order
as a contract chip maker.
Elpida, the world's No.3 maker of computer memory chips,
plans to take about a 20 percent stake in a new NEC Electronics
venture to make and sell the chips, used in PCs and flat TVs. NEC
Electronics would hold the remaining 80 percent. [ID:nT189896]
-- Nissan Motor (7201.T)
Nissan is planning to shut down its light truck plant at
Avila in Spain for up to 51 days over the next two years in
response to weak European sales, newspaper El Pais reported on
Saturday. [ID:nL21278955]
-- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (4502.T)
Takeda, Japan's largest drugmaker, won U.S. approval to
promote its cancer drug Velcade for earlier treatment of multiple
myeloma, the company said on Friday. [ID:nN20175674]
-- Kubota Corp (6326.T)
The farm equipment firm said on Friday it would buy back up
to 10 billion yen of its own shares, or 0.8 percent of those
outstanding, from June 23 to Sept 24.
-- Tasaki Shinju Co Ltd (7968.T)
Pearl product maker Tasaki Shinju said on Friday it would not
pay a dividend for the year ending in October, scrapping its
earlier forecast of 4 yen per share.
The firm also cut its operating forecast by 37.5 percent to 1
billion yen for the year ending in October, hit by a slowdown in
consumer spending.
-- Daikyo Inc (8840.T), other apartment developers
Daikyo and Dia Kensetsu Co 8858.T will cut the prices of
unsold apartments by as much as 10 percent to clear swelling
inventories caused by weak demand, the Nikkei business daily
reported on Sunday.
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
