* Nikkei clings to gains in thin trade
* JAL tumbles on growing concern about future
* Bank shares down on profit-taking, policy uncertainty
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average edged
up 0.2 percent on Friday, with gains in energy shares such as
Inpex <1605.T> on higher oil prices offsetting falls in banks and
another 10 percent tumble for Japan Airlines <9205.T>.
The cash-strapped airline is reconsidering a plan to sell
shares in its group firms, Kyodo news agency reported. Sources
told Reuters earlier this week that JAL has asked its creditors
for a total of 600 billion yen in financial aid as part of a
restructuring plan. []
Just after morning trade ended, Japan's Transport Minister
said the draft plan for JAL's restructuring was progressing
smoothly. []
But market players said the company's shares, which also lost
10 percent on Thursday and have lost roughly 26 percent this
week, were being hit largely by worries about the firm's
long-term prospects.
"There's increasing concern about the future of the company
and whether it might be heading for a General Motors-style
bankruptcy," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at
Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
The benchmark Nikkei <> rose 18.97 points to 10,257.62
in thin trade, confined to a narrow range of less than 50 points,
a day after hitting a three-week closing high.
The broader Topix <> lost 0.3 percent to 910.15.
Energy shares such gained after U.S. crude oil futures <CLc1>
rose more than 3 percent to a one-year high in the wake of a
sharp and unexpected fall for gasoline and distillate
inventories. Oil and gas field developer Inpex rose 2.3 percent
to 805,000 yen.
But banks were hit, hurt by profit-taking after results from
Goldman Sachs Group <GS.N> and Citigroup Inc's <C.N> failed to
match the high standards set by JPMorgan Chase & Co <JPM.N> and
also by concerns about JAL.
Sources have said JAL plans to ask creditors for 250 billion
yen worth of debt forgiveness and debt-for-equity swaps.
A loan moratorium proposed by Banking Minister Shizuka Kamei
also hangs over the sector.
"This whole moratorium issue is making the situation for
banks so uncertain that nobody wants to buy their shares,"
Ichiyoshi's Akino said.
Top lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T> lost 4.1
percent to 465 yen, No. 3 bank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
<8316.T> fell 3.4 percent to 3,140 yen, and Mizuho Financial
Group <8411.T>, Japan's second-largest bank, lost 2.3 percent to
170 yen.
Goldman's earnings nearly quadrupled and Citigroup's
third-quarter loss narrower than expected but Citigroup also
booked $8 billion in credit losses and the results set off a wave
of profit-taking on Wall Street. [] [].
"There's a growing risk of profit-taking on a sense that U.S.
shares may be overpriced, with additional financial company
results likely to prompt profit-taking even if they're better
than expected, as happened yesterday," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a
strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
"Even so, the pace of economic recovery seems to be better
than expected, as shown by strong U.S. tech earnings, and global
stock markets are trending upwards."
Results from Google Inc <GOOG.O> and IBM <IBM.N> bested Wall
Street estimates, and along with a robust performance by Intel
Corp earlier this week, helped to underscore that demand from
both consumers and businesses is returning.
A broad range of defensive shares, such as drugmakers and soy
sauce giant Kikkoman Corp <2801.T>, also gained.
Trade was thin, with some 910 million shares changing hands
on the Tokyo Exchange's first section compared with last week's
morning average of 980 million.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones, 861 to 631.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
