Nikkei seen booking heavy losses, Nikko a focus

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) The Nikkei average is seen booking heavy losses on Wednesday, with steel makers and other recent gainers hit by selling after U.S. stocks plunged on concerns about global economic growth.

Shares of Nikko Cordial Corp. will continue to be a focus for the market. The brokerage is likely to be delisted from the Tokyo exchange due to an accounting scandal, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.

''We are likely to see the Nikkei fall 500 or 600 points today. It really can't be helped, given the sell-off in U.S.

markets, and the decline in Nikkei futures,'' said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities.

Shares of recent gainers such as steel stocks were likely to be hit by heavy selling, Miura said.

Nikkei futures pointed to a steep decline in the market.

Contracts expiring in March finished at 17,460 in Chicago, down 650 points from the close in Osaka The Nikkei is likely to move between 17,500 and 18,000 on Wednesday, market sources said.

The benchmark fell 0.52 percent to 18,119.92, on Tuesday, after booking its highest close in nearly seven years a day earlier.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Tuesday, pushing the benchmark S&P 500 index down to its biggest one-day drop in almost four years, as a sharp sell-off in China's stock market and weak U.S. data raised concerns about global economic growth.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Nihon Unisys Ltd T> The bank systems developer said on Wednesday it is considering taking a stake in Netmarks Inc., a provider of services for data communications.

-- KDDI Corp. T> KDDI, Japan's No.2 phone company, aims to win more orders from companies for services such as server and security management, taking on IT providers Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp.

-- Nikon Corp.

Nikon and a French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) lab said on Tuesday they would jointly research double exposure and patterning technology to make next-generation chips.

-- Sanyo Electric Co.

Sanyo said on Tuesday it is considering restating its parent-only earnings reports for the business years from 2000/01 to 2003/04.

The company said last week it was being investigated by Japan's securities watchdog, the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC). An SESC source had said it was looking into the Osaka-based company's past earnings involving its booking of losses at subsidiaries.

REUTERS SBA RN0513