Japan stocks seen rising, following Wall Street

TOKYO, Oct 23 (Reuters) Japanese stocks are expected to bounce on Tuesday following gains on Wall Street, with investors picking up a broad range of shares battered in the previous two session's sell-off.

One of the stocks likely to grab attention is Hitachi Ltd The Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday the firm would pull out from personal computer production after it decided it was difficult to secure profitability in the business.

Shares of Sharp Corp are likely to fall after the company warned investors of its disappointing earnings on Monday after the close.

Sharp, the world's No. 1 maker of solar cells, said its first-half operating profit likely slipped 12.4 percent from a year earlier, falling short of market expectations, on tight supplies and higher prices of materials used to make solar cells.

''The market is likely to see buying on oversold shares across the board,'' said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities.

''Following a sell-off in recent sessions, shares are seen as bargains.'' Technicals also suggest the Nikkei may be due for a bounce.

After Monday's tumble, the Nikkei's 14-day relative strength index fell to 30.7, close to the 30 ''oversold'' line which usually indicates limited near-term downside.

Drugmaker Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and household products maker Kao Corp are among the companies scheduled to announce earnings on Tuesday.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago ended at 16,510, up by 70 points from Osaka futures trading, in a possible indication of how the market may move.

Market participants said the Nikkei would likely trade between 16,450 and 16,650.

The Nikkei average lost 2.2 percent to close at 16,438.47 on Monday.

Drugmaker Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and household products maker Kao Corp are among the companies scheduled to announce earnings on Tuesday.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday, robounding from last week's steep sell-off as optimism that Apple would deliver strong earnings drove the Nasdaq to a gain of 1 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 0.3 percent and the Standard&Poor's 500 Index was up 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.1 percent.

The dollar was traded around 114.50 yen compared with 114.38 in late New York.

STOCKS TO WATCH -- Toyota Motor Corp Toyota's group operating profit likely rose about 10 percent to above 1.2 trillion yen for the half year ended Sept. 30, helped by robust sales in Asia and the Middle East as well as in the U.S. and Europe, the Nikkei business daily said on Tuesday.

-- Seiyu Ltd T> Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Monday it will spend up to 100 billion yen to buy out minority shareholders in Japanese supermarket unit Seiyu.

Wal-Mart, which currently owns 50.9 percent of Seiyu, said it would offer 140 yen per Seiyu common share in a tender offer from Tuesday through Dec. 4. The offer price marks a 61 percent premium to Friday's closing share price of 87 yen.

-- Fujitsu Ltd T> Fujitsu on Monday lifted its first-half operating profit forecast by 120 percent on Monday on brisk sales of its servers, mobile phones, and PCs, but it kept its full-year outlook unchanged.

-- East Japan Railway Co T> East Japan Railway will likely post a 3 percent rise in group operating profit to about 255 billion yen for the first half ended Sept 30, helped by an increase in demand due to a rising population in Tokyo and openings of commercial complexes, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

That would be beat the railway operator's previous forecast for a fall of 1 percent to 245 billion yen, the paper said.

-- JGC Corp T> JGC's group operating profit will likely 51 percent to a record of about 40 billion yen for the year to March, boosted by high-margin projects in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

That would be about 2 billion yen higher than a prior forecast, the newspaper said.

Reuters AK VP0452