Nikkei seen stuck in range, Yokogawa Elec may jump

TOKYO, June 20 (Reuters) Japan's Nikkei average is expected to move in a tight range on Wednesday after Wall Street offered little direction by closing roughly flat, though Yokogawa Electric Corp. may jump on a report of a big order.

Shares of Bridgestone Corp. and other exporters should hold firm and support the market given recent weakness in the yen, but there is not enough incentive for investors to push the Nikkei to its 2007 high of 18,300, one analyst said.

''The yen should help keep export-related shares solid but overall we are probably looking at directionless trade given that not much happened on Wall Street and domestically there is no driving factor,'' said Toshihiko Matsuno, assistant general manager of investment research at SMBC Friend Securities.

Nikkei futures point to a higher open. Contracts traded in Chicago finished the previous session at 18,225, 45 points from the close in Osaka.

Matsuno predicted the benchmark Nikkei average would likely trade between 18,060 and 18,260 on Wednesday after eking out a 0.08 percent gain in the prior session to 18,163.61, its highest close since Feb. 26.

Shares of Yokogawa Electric could draw buyers after the Nikkei business daily reported it received an order from U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. worth in excess of 100 billion yen ($809 million) for refinery control systems.

Another stock in focus is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.

The Nikkei reported it signed an agreement with Boeing Co. to help promote Mitsubishi Heavy's passenger jet, which it hopes to commercialise by 2012.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.16 percent as a dip in Treasury bond yields tempered investors' interest-rate worries and boosted financial stocks, overshadowing a fall in chip-related shares.

Among corporate events in Japan, Nissan Motor Co. and KDDI Corp. are scheduled to hold their annual shareholders' meetings.

The shareholder meeting season kicks off this week and reaches a peak next week.

Japan's Finance Ministry will release its business survey for the second quarter before the open at 2350 GMT.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Chip stocks Orders for Japanese equipment used to make microchips fell short of sales in May for the second straight month on slowing chip demand, an industry group said on Tuesday.

-- Komatsu Ltd., Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.

The two construction machinery firms separately plan to expand into the leasing business in China to tap growing demand for construction machinery in the country, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday.

-- Tokyo Electric Power Co., Rakuten Inc.

Tokyo Electric Power will effectively withdraw from the telecoms business, selling off its majority stake in its Web-based phone unit to Internet firm Rakuten for 673 million yen, the two companies said on Tuesday.

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