Tokyo stocks opening lower on global economy worry

TOKYO, Sep 22 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks are seen opening lower on Friday as concern about a slowdown in the global economy could keep investors from aggressively buying shares.

Attention will focus on the government's quarterly business survey index due 8:50 a.m. (0850 GMT) to gauge the status of the Japanese economy.

''Investors are focusing on whether Japan too will see an economic slowdown along with its trading partner the United States,'' said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager in the equity planning and administration department at Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. Ltd.

Yutaka Miura, deputy manager of the equity information department at Shinko Securities, said the market will struggle to advance as investors are likely to sell stocks to take advantage of any rises.

''There is scant hope that the market will advance. Investors will want to lock in profits if the market rises,'' he said.

Nikkei December futures in Chicago closed at 15,710 on Wednesday, down 60 points from the Osaka finish, suggesting a lower opening.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday after a report showed factory activity in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank in September for the first time in over three years.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.69 percent to end at 11,533.23 while the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.67 percent to close at 2,237.75.

Traders expect Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei average to trade between 15,650 and 15,850 on Friday. It closed Thursday up 0.74 percent at 15,834.23.

STOCKS TO WATCH --Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. T> The drug maker aims to cull 1,400 group employees from its domestic pharmaceutical business through an early retirement programme and natural attrition, business daily Nihon Keizai reported on Friday.

--Isuzu Motors Ltd T> Isuzu Motors is likely to post a group operating profit of about 50 billion yen (6.9 million) for the April-September first half, jumping 32 percent on the year to beat its earlier prediction of 46.5 billion yen, the Nihon Keizai reported on Friday.

-- Hitachi Ltd.

Standard&Poor's said on Thursday it may downgrade its ''A/A-1 rating'' on Hitachi following the company's downward revision in earnings forecasts.

-- Koei Co. Ltd.

Koei, a game and PC software developer, said on Thursday it would post a lower profit in the year to next March, instead of its previous estimate of a narrow rise in profit, due to lower-than-expected shipments of game software.

Koei now expects to post a group net profit of 6.8 billion yen in the 2006/07 business year, down 7 percent from a year earlier.

-- Toho Zinc Co. Ltd.

Toho Zinc on Thursday almost doubled its group net profit forecast for the six months to September to 4.7 billion yen from 2.4 billion yen previously, helped by a rise in zinc prices and lower plant running costs.

The company posted 1.63 billion yen in profit in the same period last year.

Reuters DKS VP0530