Japan stocks likely to hover; data, earnings eyed

TOKYO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks are likely to move
in a narrow range on Monday, with many investors expected to hold
off making bets before a string of economic data and corporate
earnings.

"The market last week saw growing concerns about the U.S. and
Japanese economies and corporate earnings, and investors are
likely to wait to see more data and earnings results coming this
week," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing
at Nikko Cordial Securities.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday as a $15.5 billion quarterly loss
from General Motors and a rise in oil prices added to fears the
economy could slip into recession and concerns about corporate
earnings.

A raft of Japanese corporate earnings are due this week,
including Mitsui & Co (8031.T) and Kirin Holdings (2503.T) later
in the day.

Nikkei futures closed at 13,105 in Chicago 2NKc1, 75 points
above the close in Osaka JNIc1.

The Nikkei .N225 may trade between 12,900 and 13,200,
market participants said. The benchmark fell 2.1 percent to hit a
two-week closing low of 13,094.59 on Friday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2249 GMT ------------

INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 .SPX 1260.31 -0.56% -7.070
USD/JPY JPY= 107.51 -0.14% -0.150
10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 3.9404 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD XAU= 911.8 0.25% 2.250
US CRUDE CLc1 126.06 0.77% 0.950
DOW JONES .DJI 11326.32 -0.45% -51.70
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Wall Street dips on GM loss, oil, jobs data [.N]
> Dollar rises to 5-wk high vs euro, buoyed by US data [USD/]
> Bonds rise slightly as lower stocks spur safety bid [US/]
> Platinum slides on bleak outlook for carmakers [GOL/]
> Oil rises on Iranian nuclear concerns [O/R]
STOCKS TO WATCH

-- Nissan Motor Co (7201.T)

Nissan Motor posted a much-worse-than-expected 46 percent
drop in quarterly operating profit on Friday due to a severe
downturn in the U.S. market, but stuck to its annual forecasts,
counting on a weaker yen. [ID:nT167098]

Separately, industry data on Friday showed that U.S. auto
sales plunged to a 16-year low in July, led by a 27 percent drop
at General Motors Corp (GM.N), as high gas prices and tight
credit sent the industry into a tailspin. [ID:nN01496226]

Nissan surprised investors by posting an 8.5 percent
increase. Honda Motor Co Ltd (7267.T) reported a
weaker-than-expected 1.6 percent drop in sales, while Toyota
Motor's (7203.T) sales fell 12 percent.

-- Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T)

A unit of Mizuho Financial Group decided to change the terms
of its Merrill Lynch convertible securities it owns rather than
exchanging them for shares, the Nikkei business daily reported on
Saturday. [ID:nN01257253]

-- Astellas Pharma Inc (4503.T)

Astellas, Japan's second-largest drugmaker, said on Friday
its quarterly operating profit fell 5 percent on higher research
and development spending and a stronger yen, and it kept its
full-year outlook unchanged. [ID:nT203901]

-- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T)

Japan's largest bank will sell 244 million shares of its
credit card unit Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos to agricultural lender
Norinchukin Bank. [ID:nTFA003153]

-- Nintendo Co Ltd (7974.OS)

Nintendo's Wii video game console outsold Sony Corp's
(6758.T) PlayStation 3 by more than 3-to-1 in Japan in July, a
game magazine publisher said. [ID:nTKB003037]

-- Asahi Breweries Ltd (2502.T)

Japan's largest brewery cut its second-half operating profit
outlook by about 10 percent as it suffers a decline in beer
sales, partly due to price hikes.

For the six months ended in June, the firm's operating profit
jumped 33 percent to 30.7 billion yen as it cut marketing
expenses amid falling sales.

-- Ibiden Co Ltd (4062.T)

Electronics device maker Ibiden cut its full-year outlook on
Friday, hurt by a slowdown in sales of high-end products in the
United States and Europe.

The firm said it now expects its operating profit to come at
51 billion yen for the year ending in March 2009, down from 60
billion yen in a previous forecast.

-- Aozora Bank (8304.T)

Aozora Bank said on Friday it may need to revise its
quarterly earnings just a day after reporting them to further
write down its stake in GMAC LLC, the subprime-hit former
financing arm of General Motors Corp (GM.N). [ID:nT227138]

-- Orix Corp (8591.T)

Leasing and financial services firm Orix plans to tie-up with
13 regional banks to help small and midsize companies expand
overseas as well as broker merger and acquisition deals, the
Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

-- Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T)

Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron is now expected to post a
group operating profit of about 70 billion yen for the year to
March, down 58 percent from a year earlier and short of an
earlier forecast for 84 billion yen as chipmakers rein in capital
spending, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

-- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) (9432.T)

NTT, Japan's largest telephone company, is expected to post a
group operating profit in the 350-400 billion yen range for the
April-June quarter, up from 299.2 billion yen a year earlier, the
Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

The profit rise was largely driven by a jump in profit at
mobile phone unit NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T), the newspaper said.

-- NTT Data (9613.T)

Germany's BMW (BMWG.DE) said on Friday it had agreed to sell
72.9 percent of its IT consultancy Cirquent to systems integrator
NTT Data for an undisclosed price. [ID:nWEA4339]
(Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Chris Gallagher)