Nikkei set to rise after US rally, Mazda in focus

TOKYO, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is expected
to firm on Wednesday following an overnight rise on Wall Street,
though global recession fears may limit gains in Tokyo shares.

One stock to watch will be Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T). Ford
Motor Co (F.N), scrambling for cash as the U.S. Big Three
automakers struggle to stay alive, will end 12 years of control
of Mazda through the sale of a 20 percent stake in the Japanese
carmaker for around $540 million. [ID:nT295006]

U.S. stocks staged a late fight back on Tuesday after a
choppy session in which stronger-than-expected results from
computer maker Hewlett-Packard offset fears that more losses at
Citigroup (C.N) and other banks are yet to come.

"Market participants don't know if they should take Tuesday's
late rally in U.S. stocks at face value, although it's a positive
factor for Japanese stocks," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity
strategist at Shinko Securities.

"Movements in share prices may remain volatile as the market
still lacks a sense of direction overall," Segawa said.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 2NKc1 closed at 8,510 on
Tuesday, 190 points above their close in Osaka JNIc1.

Market participants expect the benchmark Nikkei .N225 to
trade between 8,200 and 8,600 on Wednesday.

It shed 2.3 percent on Tuesday to end at 8,328.41.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2305 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 859.12 0.98% 8.370
USD/JPY JPY= 96.82 -0.11% -0.110
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.5275 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 737.75 0.13% 0.950
US CRUDE CLc1 54.5 0.20% 0.110
DOW JONES .DJI 8424.75 1.83% 151.17
-------------------------------------------------------------
> US STOCKS-Wall St barrels back in late rally, led by HP [.N]
> Dollar rises vs euro, sterling as Wall St tumbles [USD/]
> Treasuries rally after record producer price fall [US/]
> Platinum rises on bargain-hunting, gold weakens [GOL/]
> Oil falls as recession fears drag down markets [O/R]
STOCKS TO WATCH

-- NTT DoCoMo (9437.T)

Japan's biggest mobile phone carrier will team up with South
Korean firm KT Freetel Ltd to develop a smart phone featuring
free software from Google Inc (GOOG.O) to compete with Apple
Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone, the Nikkei business daily said on
Wednesday.

-- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) (MTU.N)

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group posted a 61 percent decline in
second-quarter profit on Tuesday and stuck to its recently
lowered full-year forecast, hit by a recession at home and losses
on its extensive stock portfolio. [ID:nT305164]

-- Mazda Motor Corp (7261.T)
Ford Motor Co (F.N), scrambling for cash as the U.S. Big
Three automakers struggle to stay alive, will end 12 years of
control of Mazda through the sale of a 20 percent stake in the
Japanese carmaker for around $540 million.

Mazda said on Tuesday it would buy back 6.87 percent of its
own shares from Ford for up to 17.9 billion yen ($184.5 million),
keeping them as treasury stock. More than 20 undisclosed business
partners will purchase the remaining 13 percent. [ID:nT295006]

-- Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd (5110.T)

Japan's second-biggest tyre maker plans to start selling in
Japan tyres which include no petrochemical materials by 2013, a
company spokesman said on Tuesday.

The company has set a medium-term strategy to fight global
climate change by introducing a tyre which uses as little raw
material made from oil as possible and spins more smoothly than a
conventional tyre. [ID:nT321311]

-- Sanyo Electric Co Ltd (6764.T)

Sanyo said on Tuesday it is recalling some 280,000 clothes
washer/dryer units due to a risk of smoke or fire when the dryer
is run. The cost of the recall was likely to be around 5 billion
yen.

-- Koei Co Ltd 9654.T, Tecmo Ltd 9650.T

Japanese videogame maker Koei Co will take over smaller rival
Tecmo in a stock deal worth 20 billion yen, the two firms said on
Tuesday, the latest in a series of consolidation moves in the
industry. [ID:nT316836]
($1=97.01 Yen)
(Reporting by Rika Otsuka; Editing by Michael Watson)