(Adds details on Japan's budget for the year to March 2011)
TOKYO, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to
move narrowly on Monday to hover around a three-month high, in
the absence of fresh trading cues after U.S. and European stock
markets were closed for Christmas late last week.
Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> may draw attention after media
reported that the automaker expects a 17 percent increase in its
2010 global production, excluding units Daihatsu and Hino Motors,
from this year to about 7.5 million units. []
Japanese industrial output data, due before the start of
trade, will also be in focus. Output probably posted its
strongest growth in six months in November, driven by rising
exports to China and the rest of Asia. []
"Trade will likely be slow due to the holiday mood and as the
Nikkei is already taking a breather around 10,500, and the
dollar/yen that had pushed up the market last week is halting a
further rise," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa
Securities SMBC.
"Unless the industrial output data comes in much stronger
than market expectations, it's unlikely to lead the market to
test higher levels."
The benchmark Nikkei <> is likely to move between 10,400
and 10,600 on Monday, market players said. It slipped 0.4 percent
on Friday to end at 10,494.71, a day after hitting a three-month
closing peak.
The index ended up 3.5 percent on the week and has risen 18.5
percent so far this year.
Japan approved on Friday a record budget for next year that
will inflate the country's already huge debt by $484 billion.
The government, which has vowed to reorient spending to
households, is spending more on welfare and and education but
cutting outlays on public works -- a traditional way for Japanese
governments to boost the economy -- by a record 18 percent.
[]
Market analysts said that these policies had been seen as
positive for stocks related to children such as Pigeon Corp
<7956.T>, a maker of baby care products, and negative for
construction firms and general contractors, but that this had
been already factored in since the Democratic Party took power
this autumn.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2254 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 <.SPX> 1126.48 0.53% 5.890
USD/JPY <JPY=> 91.18 -0.35% -0.320
10-YR US TSY YLD <US10YT=RR> 3.8048 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD <XAU=> 1103.8 0.00% 0.000
US CRUDE <CLc1> 78.05 0.00% 1.380
DOW JONES <> 10520.10 0.51% 53.66
-------------------------------------------------------------
> Data lifts Wall St to 2009 highs on Christmas Eve []
> U.S. dollar falls versus euro in thin trade []
> Prices slip on recipe of strong data and supply []
> Gold untraded but silver, platinum inch up []
> Oil rises above $78, inventories support []
STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Takashimaya Co Ltd <8233.T>
Takashimaya, Japan's third-largest department store chain,
kept its full-year profit forecast unchanged on Friday despite a
sharp slide in sales, saying extra cost-cutting would make up for
the shortfall. []
-- Skymark Airlines Inc <9204.T>
Skymark is ready to introduce seven more Boeing <BA.N>
737-800 planes to its fleet if the discount carrier can get 20
more landing slots at Tokyo's Haneda airport, a company source
said. []
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
