Tokyo stocks seen opening higher, eyes on Nikko

TOKYO, Mar 16 (Reuters) The Nikkei average is seen opening higher on Friday with a wide range of shares rising including exporters such as Canon Inc. lifted by a softer yen.

Stocks yielding high dividends such as steel are also seen gaining as the Tokyo market rebounds from a recent global sell-off.

The spotlight will stay on Nikko Cordial Corp. Mizuho Financial Group, the nation's No.2 bank, plans to tender Nikko shares, Kyodo news agency reported without specifying if Mizuho would sell its entire 4.8 percent holding.

''The Nikkei could try for 17,000, encouraged by the currency level and with worries over the unwinding of carry trades having receded,'' said Yosuke Shimizu, general manager of the investment information department at Monex.

In carry trades investors finance purchases of assets by borrowing a low yielding currency such as the yen.

''Investors are likely to keep watching Nikko as it appears the brokerage has moved one step closer to become a wholely-owned unit of Citigroup,'' Shimizu said.

The dollar rose about 0.50 percent to around 117.61 yen in New York.

A weaker yen is a boon to companies that make the bulk of their sales abroad because it boosts profits when earnings from abroad are brought home.

Nikkei futures contracts expiring in June finished at 16,835 in Chicago, up 35 points from the close in Osaka pointing to a rise in the Nikkei average.

The Nikkei is likely to move between 16,800 and 17,000 on Friday, Shimizu said.

The benchmark rose 1.10 percent on Thursday to finish at 16,860.39.

Asian stocks fell sharply early on Wednesday, with the Nikkei losing more than 2 percent after Wall Street had its second-worst sell-off this year on growing concerns about the subprime mortgage market, which serves borrowers with poor credit histories and charges higher interest rates.

U.S. stocks finished higher on Thursday after healthy earnings from Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. eased concerns about subprime lending problems spreading to other companies and the wider economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.22 percent to 12,159.68.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.

Panasonic maker Matsushita is in the final stages of choosing Texas Pacific Group as a preferred bidder for its struggling electronics unit JVC, the Nikkei business daily said on Friday.

-- TDK Corp. T> TDK on Thursday unveiled plans to effectively take over the hard disk drive head business of rival Alps Electric Co., creating the world's only independent maker of hard drive heads.

-- Sapporo Holdings Ltd. T> Influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. said on Thursday it urged shareholders in Japanese brewer Sapporo Holdings Ltd. to vote against the company's defence against hostile takeovers.

-- Canon Inc. T> Nano-Proprietary Inc., a U.S. technology firm that sued over a patent licence for flat-panel displays, said it is waiting for Japanese electronics giant Canon to show a willingness to negotiate a settlement.

-- Sumco Corp. T> The silicon wafer maker said on Thursday its operating profit nearly doubled last year on demand for its 300-mm wafers, and forecast profit growth this year above market expectations.

MORE REUTERS AD PM0608