Japan stocks seen set to fall, tracking Wall St

TOKYO, Nov 27 (Reuters) Japanese stocks are seen declining on Tuesday, dragged lower by financials like Mizuho Financial Group Inc amid renewed credit concerns that sent Wall Street down overnight.

Among stocks in the spotlight is Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.

The Panasonic maker plans to build a plant to manufacture residential-use fuel cells in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, scheduled to go online in fiscal 2008, the Nikkei business daily reported on Tuesday.

Ebara Corp and Toshiba Corp are also planning to start mass production of fuel cells within several years, the daily said.

''Today's outlook is tough, subprime problems remain,'' said Masayoshi Yano, senior manager of investment information at Tokai Tokyo Securities.

''Yet, Japanese stocks will be at the level of being oversold if the Nikkei hits below 15,000. So it's unlikely for the market to keep falling to new lows.'' The Nikkei is expected to trade from 14,800 to 15,100.

Nikkei futures traded in Chicago on Monday finished at 14,850, 350 points below Osaka close pointing to a lower opening.

On Monday, the Nikkei rose 1.7 percent or 246.44 points to 15,135.21, its highest close since Nov. 20.

The broad-based TOPIX index jumped 2.1 percent or 29.65 points to end at 1,467.03, also its highest finish since Nov. 20.

U.S. stocks tumbled on Monday as investors worried rising mortgage defaults and credit market losses will drag on the economy, fuelling fears that consumers will slash spending during the vital holiday season.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 1.83 percent to 12,743.44. The Standard &Poor's 500 Index sunk 2.32 percent to 1,407.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 2.14 percent to 2,540.99.

The dollar was traded at 107.45 after dropping to 107.23 yen in late New York, the lowest since June 2005, according to Reuters data.

STOCKS TO WATCH --DyDo Drinco The canned drinks vendor on Monday reported a 26.6 percent increase in its operating profit for the nine months ended in Oct. 20, thanks to steep growth in bottled mineral water and the absence of hefty marketing expenses for a new product launch a year ago. Operating profit came in at 4.59 billion yen (.7 million) on revenue of 120.9 billion yen, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

--IHI The heavy machinery maker said on Monday it would sell property in Tokyo to Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co, posting an extraordinary gain of 77 billion yen this business year.

--Sumitomo Trust&Banking Co Japan's fifth-largest bank said its president planned to step down for health reasons and Hitoshi Tsunekage, a managing executive officer, would take his place.

Reuters AK VP0550