TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices are expected to open lower on mounting concern over the prospect of the global equity markets after Wall Street declined again on Friday, dealers said.
The yen's strength may also weigh on shares of exporters which are now increasingly unlikely to upgrade their earnings forecasts for the current fiscal year ending March 31, they said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 120.24 points or 0.98 pct at 12,114.10, while the Nasdaq was off 36.21 points or 1.51 pct at 2,368.00.
In Chicago, the Nikkei futures contract settled at 16,865 points, down from 17,160 at the Osaka Securities Exchange Friday, pointing to another selloff at the start of trading here.
On the Tokyo bourse Friday, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down 235.58 points or 1.35 pct at 17,217.93, while the TOPIX index of all first-section issues lost 18.52 points or 1.06 pct to settle at 1,721.59.
Ahead in Japan, the Ministry of Finance will release its quarterly survey on corporate profits and capital investment activity in the October-December quarter, which the government uses in fine-tuning the real gross domestic product data.
Stocks to watch include Victor Co of Japan following a weekend report that Texas Pacific Group and Cerberus Group are expected to separately bid to acquire the Japanese consumer electronics firm.
Toyota Motor may be active on a report that the automaker plans to install production lines capable of simultaneously handling up to eight car models at its domestic and overseas plants starting this year.
Toshiba Corp may also be in focus following a report that the electronics maker will lift production of its 56-nanometer NAND memory chips three months ahead of schedule in a bid to address plunging prices.
Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd may move on a report that the firm plans to invest between 140 and 150 bln yen in the year to March 2008 to deal with increased demand for LCD panel materials from major customer Sharp Corp and others.
(1 usd = 116.81 yen)
yasuhiko.seki@xfn.com
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