Nikkei seen opening lower following Wall St.

TOKYO, July 23 (Reuters) A fall in U.S. stocks after disappointing results from the world's top construction equipment maker, Caterpillar Inc., is likely to weigh on Japanese shares, including construction stocks such as Komatsu Ltd., on Monday.

Another focus in the market may be Tokyo Electric Power Co.

(TEPCO), whose nuclear plant in northwest Japan was hit by an earthquake last week and had to be closed indefinitely.

The shutdown of the plant will likely cost TEPCO about 200 billion yen, roughly half its pretax profit estimate, the Nikkei financial daily said on Sunday.

''It seems very likely that exporters, especially Komatsu, will come under pressure after Caterpillar's results missed expectations,'' said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager of the equity marketing department at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

Komatsu is Japan's top construction machinery maker.

''But the overall environment is not bad, and the Nikkei seems likely to be able to keep the 18,000 level,'' he said.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago finished Friday at 17,950.00, below the Osaka close by 230 points, pointing to a lower opening.

Takahashi said the Nikkei would likely move between 17,900 and 18,200 on Monday after finishing the previous session up 0.23 percent at 18,157.93.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average down 1.07 percent to end at 13,851.08.

Caterpillar, the world's top maker of earthmoving equipment, diesel engines and gas turbines, said on Friday quarterly earnings fell more than expected due to lower truck engine sales, weakness in North American construction markets and higher production costs.

Japanese companies scheduled to report results on Monday include KDDI Corp.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Tokyo Steel Manufacturing Co. T> Japan's biggest construction-use steel maker on Friday raised its pretax recurring profit outlook to 27.5 billion yen from 25 billion yen for the year to March 2008, citing a slight fall in steel scrap price during the April-June quarter.

A weak yen also helped raise profit on exports, it said. -- Fast Retailing Co., Cabin Co. Ltd.

Japanese clothing retailer Fast Retailing said on Friday it would spend 14.8 billion yen to buy the 50 percent it does not already own in women's apparel firm Cabin Co, paying 710 yen per Cabin share in a tender offer.

-- Japan Steel Works Ltd. T> Japan Steel Works will ask Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other business partners to buy stakes in it in an attempt to protect against a hostile takeover, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

-- Toyota Motor Corp. T> Toyota said on Saturday it would extend a suspension of production at all of its Japanese factories to Monday to cope with a supply shortage from a key parts maker whose plants were hit by a powerful earthquake.

-- Sanyo Shinpan Co. and other consumer lenders Sanyo Shinpan will likely post a 80 billion yen net loss for the year to March after boosting reserves for legal claims, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

-- Resona Holdings Inc.

Resona said on Friday it will issue 100 billion yen (0 million) in preferred shares to Dai-Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co.

as Japan's fourth-largest lender looks to repay more than 2.3 trillion yen in public funds.

-- Tokyo Electric Power Co. T> The earthquake-induced shutdown of a nuclear plant in northwest Japan last week will likely cost Tokyo Electric Power about 200 billion yen, roughly half its pretax profit estimate, the Nikkei financial daily said on Sunday.

-- Oji Paper Co. Ltd. T> Oji Paper will likely post a group pretax profit about 8 billion yen for the April-June quarter, down 39 percent from a year earlier due to higher prices of raw materials, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

-- Monex Beans Holdings T> The online brokerage on Friday posted a 35 percent drop in group net profit to 1.9 billion yen for the April-June quarter, hit by a drop in commission revenue due to sluggish trading by retail investors.

-- Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) T> A U.S. subsidiary of MUFG will likely be fined about million by U.S. authorities for insufficient measures against money laundering, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

REUTERS CS PM0505