TOKYO, Sep 20 Japanese stocks are likely to open higher on Thursday led by financials suc

TOKYO, Sep 20 (Reuters) Japanese stocks are likely to open higher on Thursday led by financials such as Mizuho Financial Group Inc in an extended rally tracking gains on Wall Street.

One of the stocks expected to grab the market's attention is Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos Co The Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday that the credit card company should report a 100 billion yen ($863 million) net loss for the year ending in March on hefty restructuring charges.

In a plan to be announced on Thursday, Mitsubishi UFJ Nicos will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc as early as next summer, the daily said.

"Following a big rally yesterday, there is likely to be a pause. But given extended gains on Wall Street and with the dollar around 116 yen, investors are likely to resume buying," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager of equity marketing at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

He said a rise in Japanese land prices was positive for investor sentiment and would help allay credit risk concerns and boost expectations for the economy's outlook. Property shares are likely to be bought on the news, he said.

A government report issued on Wednesday showed Japan's average commercial land prices rose in the year to July 1 for the first time in 16 years, led by office demand in the three biggest cities.

In a widely expected move, the Bank of Japan held its overnight rate at 0.5 percent at a policy meeting that ended on Wednesday. The central bank's decision, which came during Wednesday's session, had a relatively limited impact on the market.

U.S. stocks extended a rally on Wednesday after the Fed's rate cut. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 percent, the Standard&Poor's 500 Index jumped 0.6 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.6 percent.

Analysts predict Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average will move between 16,250 and 16,500 on Thursday after gaining 3.7 percent in Wednesday's session to 16,381.54.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago finished at 16,480 on Wednesday, 110 higher than the Osaka close, indicating a higher opening in Tokyo.

The dollar was around 116.00 yen against 116.07 yen in late New York trade.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- TOSHIBA CORP Toshiba said on Wednesday it would sell a landmark building in Tokyo's Ginza district for 161 billion yen ($1.4 billion) to Tokyu Land Corp The electronics giant said it expects a pretax profit of 130 billion yen from the sale and will book a profit in the October-March second half of the business year.

-- CHIPMAKERS Orders for Japanese equipment used to make microchips fell short of sales in August on slower demand from DRAM makers and weaker-than-expected demand for Intel Corp's logic chips, an industry group said on Wednesday.

-- NEC Electronics Corp T> The chip unit of NEC Corp is expected to report an operating profit of around 5 billion yen ($43.1 million) for the April-September first half, posting a profit for the period for first time in three years on brisk chip sales and weaker yen, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday.

-- Fujifilm Holdings Corp T> The company said on Wednesday it plans to shift its remaining digital camera production to China and cut an unspecified number of jobs as it restructures its struggling camera operations.

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