Tokyo stocks seen moving little, tankan a focus

TOKYO, Apr 2 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks are seen moving little overall on Monday after U.S. markets finished flat last week, but shares of exporters such as Canon Inc. may come under some pressure following an upturn in the yen.

Market participants will also be watching the results of the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey of business sentiment.

The key survey will likely show a slight deterioration in business confidence among large manufacturers, according to a Reuters poll.

Nikkei futures pointed to a slight decline in the market.

Contracts expiring in June finished at 17,270 in Chicago, a decline of 40 points from the close in Osaka ''As long as the tankan doesn't deviate too sharply from forecasts, the market is likely to have a neutral reaction to it,'' said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities.

''So U.S. markets and the currency are likely to have more of an impact on stocks here today ... overall movement is likely to be limited,'' Miura said.

Shares of exporters could come under selling pressure, Miura said. The yen was at 117.75 to the dollar in early trade on Monday.

A stronger yen is a minus for Japan's exporters as it eats into profits when earnings from abroad are brought home.

The Nikkei is likely to move between 17,200 and 17,400 on Monday, the first trading day of fiscal year 2007/08, market participants said.

The benchmark rose 0.14 percent to 17,287.65 on Friday.

U.S. stocks were little changed, with the Dow Jones industrial average adding 0.05 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index rising 0.16 percent.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Edion Corp., Bic Camera Inc.

The electronics retailers announced on Friday that they have cancelled plans to merge in a deal that would have created a group with the size to rival industry leader Yamada Denki Co.

The two companies said they would maintain their stakes of about 3 percent in each other while keeping some operational ties including mutual use of distribution networks, sharing of know-how, and some joint procurement.

-- Mitsui&Co.

Japan's second-biggest trading house said on Saturday it would spend about 58 billion yen to buy a 19.9 percent stake in Sydney-based metals recycler Sims Group Ltd., aiming to boost its recycling business.

-- Tosoh Corp. and other PVC makers Tosoh, Tokuyama Corp. and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. are all taking steps to scale back production of PVC in Japan due to a reduction in state spending on public works, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

-- Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.

Matsushita said on Friday it bought a 35.5 percent stake in its cathode ray tube joint venture from partner Toshiba Corp. T> , making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

-- Oki Electric Industry Co.

The telecoms equipment maker said on Friday it aims to return to a profit in the business year started April 1 by cutting 500 jobs and squeezing other costs.

-- Resona Holdings, Mitsui Trust Holdings Resona, Japan's fourth-biggest lender, and No. 6 Mitsui Trust said in separate statements on Friday they had asked the state to sell shares issued by the banks in return for the taxpayer-funded rescues.

-- Itochu Corp.

Itochu plans to spend about 100 billion yen to develop natural gas in the United States over the next three years, the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

-- Astellas Pharma Inc.

Japan's third-biggest drug maker said on Friday it has signed a deal worth up to 0 million to use Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s VelocImmune technology for discovering human monoclonal antibodies.

-- Nikon Corp.

Nikon is expected to post a record 53 billion yen in group net profit for the year ended March 31, up 83 percent from the year before and 2 billion yen above its own forecast, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

-- Sumitomo Realty&Development Co.

The real estate firm is expected to post a group operating profit of 137 billion yen for the year ended March 31, up 22 percent from the prior business year and 3 billion yen above its own forecast, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

-- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

Takeda, Japan's biggest drug maker, said on Friday it and South Korea's LG Life Sciences would work together to develop and commercialise anti-obesity drugs.

In a separate announcement, Takeda said it had acquired from 3M Co. the rights for a drug being developed as a treatment for human papillomavirus infection.

REUTERS SBA BST0512