Tokyo stocks may keep climbing as yen weakens

TOKYO, Apr 17 (Reuters) Tokyo stocks are seen continuing their climb on Tuesday led by exporters such as Canon Inc. on a softer yen and following gains in similar stocks in the United States, one of the biggest markets for Japanese goods.

Solid U.S. retail sales data for March and Citigroup Inc.'s earnings results out on Monday are likely to help brighten Japanese investors' views on the U.S. economic outlook, said Hiroichi Nishi, a general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities.

''The market is likely to continue its rally as it is on the recovery path, helped by a weaker yen and gains in U.S. stocks,'' he said.

In New York, the euro rose to a record high of around 162.43 yen earlier on Monday, before trimming gains to 162.07 yen by late afternoon trading, still up 0.5 percent on the day.

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 pointed to a rise in the market. Contracts expiring in June finished at 17,885 in Chicago, a gain of 235 points from the close in Osaka The Nikkei is likely to move between 17,700 and 17,850 on Tuesday, market participants said.

The benchmark closed up 1.52 percent at 17,628.30 the previous session.

U.S. stocks rallied on Monday after Citigroup reported better-than-expected results and upbeat retail data suggested the economy remained resilient.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 0.86 percent to end at 12,720.46.

STOCKS TO WATCH --Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines will likely post a 1 percent rise in its 2006/07 recurring profit to a record, beating its own forecast of a 1 percent fall, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

--Sumitomo Trust&Banking Co.

Sumitomo Trust&Banking Co. agreed on Monday to buy a trust banking unit of Barclays Global Investors UK, Sumitomo Trust said.

Tokyo-based Barclays Global Investors Japan Trust&Banking Co., Ltd., part of bank group Barclays Plc's asset management business, has 99 employees and is capitalised at 4.85 billion yen (.7 million).

--Toyota Motor Corp.

Toyota expects its sales in China to easily top 500,000 vehicles in 2008 but stay below 600,000 units, a top executive said on Monday.

Japan's top automaker expects its sales in the fast-growing Chinese market to surge 43 percent this year to 430,000 units, excluding Hong Kong, driven by the planned launch of the new Corolla sedan and rising sales of the Camry car.

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