Tokyo stocks seen higher, earnings results eyed

TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks are seen gaining ground on Friday, with investor sentiment helped by another record high close on the U.S. Dow, but gains are likely to be limited before the weekend while investors wait for more corporate earnings results.

Nissan Motor Co., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. are among the companies due to report their earnings later in the day.

Shares of silicon-wafer maker SUMCO Corp. may be a focus for investors. The company plans to invest 350 billion yen ( TOKYO, Feb 2 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks are seen gaining ground on Friday, with investor sentiment helped by another record high close on the U.S. Dow, but gains are likely to be limited before the weekend while investors wait for more corporate earnings results.

Nissan Motor Co., Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. are among the companies due to report their earnings later in the day.

Shares of silicon-wafer maker SUMCO Corp. may be a focus for investors. The company plans to invest 350 billion yen ($2.9 billion) to more than triple its output capacity for advanced 300-millimetre wafers by 2010, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Nikkei futures pointed to a rise in stock prices. Contracts expiring in March finished at 17,655 in Chicago, 95 points above the close in Osaka ''After the rise on Wall Street, we are likely to move higher today,'' said Yoku Ihara, a manager at the investment information department of Retela Crea Securities.

''But with the weekend ahead I don't think investors want to hang on to a lot of stocks. That is likely to keep trade in a narrow range.'' The Nikkei is seen moving between 17,500 and 17,650 on Friday, market participants said. The share average booked its highest close in nearly 10 months on Thursday, rising 0.78 percent to 17,519.50.

In the United States on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial average booking a record close. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.18 percent.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Suzuki Motor Corp.

Suzuki Motor reported a 7.6 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as sales grew worldwide, and it reiterated its forecast for higher full-year earnings.

-- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.

The maker of Panasonic brand products reported a 5 percent rise in quarterly operating profit, driven by robust sales of flat TVs, and it kept its full-year outlook.

-- Nikko Cordial Corp.

Nikko, under fire since December over an accounting scandal, said on Thursday it had booked about twice as much illegitimate profit as it had initially acknowledged.

Japan's third-biggest brokerage also reported an 8.3 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by a stock market slowdown and underperformance in investment banking.

-- Konica Minolta Holdings Inc.

Konica Minolta posted an unexpected 9.6 percent decline in quarterly profit on weaker orders for materials used in thin displays and hard-disk drives, but maintained its forecast on hopes demand will recover in the last three months of its business year.

-- Ajinomoto Co.

Japan's top maker of seasonings, said on Thursday it would buy a one-third stake in Yamaki, an unlisted maker of dried fish flakes, to help expand its food business.

-- Sapporo Holdings Ltd.

Sapporo said on Thursday that Steel Partners, a U.S.-based fund and its biggest shareholder, has proposed that Sapporo scrap its plans for a ''poison pill'' defence against hostile takeovers.

Reuters SBA VP0520 .9 billion) to more than triple its output capacity for advanced 300-millimetre wafers by 2010, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday.

Nikkei futures pointed to a rise in stock prices. Contracts expiring in March finished at 17,655 in Chicago, 95 points above the close in Osaka ''After the rise on Wall Street, we are likely to move higher today,'' said Yoku Ihara, a manager at the investment information department of Retela Crea Securities.

''But with the weekend ahead I don't think investors want to hang on to a lot of stocks. That is likely to keep trade in a narrow range.'' The Nikkei is seen moving between 17,500 and 17,650 on Friday, market participants said. The share average booked its highest close in nearly 10 months on Thursday, rising 0.78 percent to 17,519.50.

In the United States on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial average booking a record close. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.18 percent.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Suzuki Motor Corp.

Suzuki Motor reported a 7.6 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday as sales grew worldwide, and it reiterated its forecast for higher full-year earnings.

-- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.

The maker of Panasonic brand products reported a 5 percent rise in quarterly operating profit, driven by robust sales of flat TVs, and it kept its full-year outlook.

-- Nikko Cordial Corp.

Nikko, under fire since December over an accounting scandal, said on Thursday it had booked about twice as much illegitimate profit as it had initially acknowledged.

Japan's third-biggest brokerage also reported an 8.3 percent fall in third-quarter profit on Thursday, hurt by a stock market slowdown and underperformance in investment banking.

-- Konica Minolta Holdings Inc.

Konica Minolta posted an unexpected 9.6 percent decline in quarterly profit on weaker orders for materials used in thin displays and hard-disk drives, but maintained its forecast on hopes demand will recover in the last three months of its business year.

-- Ajinomoto Co.

Japan's top maker of seasonings, said on Thursday it would buy a one-third stake in Yamaki, an unlisted maker of dried fish flakes, to help expand its food business.

-- Sapporo Holdings Ltd.

Sapporo said on Thursday that Steel Partners, a U.S.-based fund and its biggest shareholder, has proposed that Sapporo scrap its plans for a ''poison pill'' defence against hostile takeovers.

Reuters SBA VP0520