Nikkei may edge down as Wall St, econ data in focus

Tokyo, June 27: A further nudge down on Wall Street could pressure Japanese stocks on Wednesday, with exporters such as Sony Corp. losing ground on concerns about the U.S. economic outlook.

But investors may buy nuclear business-related stocks such as Toshiba Corp., said Kazuhiro Takahashi, a general manager of the equity marketing department at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

The Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday that Toshiba had been picked by U.S. power producer NRG Energy Inc. to build a nuclear power plant in the United States, a project that was originally to use reactors from General Electric Co. and Hitachi Ltd. The total cost of the project is expected to come to about 600 billion yen ($4.9 billion), the paper added.

''The market is likely to lack clear direction after U.S.

markets fell for a couple of sessions running, and after the Nikkei maintained the 18,000 level yesterday,'' Takahashi said.

Takahashi said the Nikkei average may move in a narrow range on Wednesday between 18,000 and 18,200, with the U.S. events calendar possibly slowing some trade here.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department will report durable goods orders for May, and a two-day Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates ends on Thursday.

''Trade by foreign investors may be slow ahead of the release of the Fed's statement and durable goods data in the United States. Futures are likely to determine the Nikkei moves,'' Takahashi said.

Nikkei futures point to a lower opening. Contracts traded in Chicago finished the previous session at 17,980.00, down 110 points from the close in Osaka The Nikkei average ended the previous session down 0.12 percent at 18,066.11.

U.S. stocks closed down for a third session on Tuesday as higher bond yields raised concerns about borrowing costs, while further fallout from the subprime mortgage market kept investors on edge.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.11 percent to end at 13,337.66.

Among corporate events in Japan, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and Pentax Corp. are scheduled to hold their annual shareholders' meetings. The shareholder meeting ''season'' for Japanese companies peaks this week.

STOCKS TO WATCH

-- Kirin Brewery Co.

Kirin is expected to post an operating profit of about 39 billion yen for the six months to the end of June, down 13 percent from a year earlier due to high raw materials costs, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.

However, that would beat Kirin's forecast by 1 billion yen, the newspaper said.

-- Elpida Memory Inc.

A DRAM chip joint venture between Elpida and Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. will build a second factory building in Taiwan and begin mass production as early as next autumn, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.

-- NTT DoCoMo Inc.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top mobile phone carrier, will offer new discounts of as much as 50 percent, following suit after new entrant Softbank Corp. slashed prices.

-- Eizo Nanao Corp.

Germany's Siemens will sell its medical display business to Eizo Nanao for an undisclosed sum, the Japanese maker of computer and game machine displays said on Tuesday.

-- Mitsui & Co.

Japan's second-biggest trading company said on Tuesday it had won a $1.3 billion order from Kuwait's government to build a power and desalination plant there.

Reuters