* MUFG jumps after posting first profit in three quarters
* Showa Shell drops after cutting forecast, Fuji Heavy soars
* Market lacks direction,trading factors scarce beyond earnings
* Earnings season in full gear; Panasonic to report later
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average inched down
0.3 percent on Monday, with investors cautious ahead of more
corporate earnings reports, but banks rose after Mitsubishi UFJ
Financial Group <8306.T> posted its first profit in three
quarters.
Showa Shell <5002.T>, Japan's fifth-largest refiner, dropped
after slashing its forecast to a loss, while Fuji Heavy
Industries <7270.T>, the maker of Subaru cars, surged after its
U.S. arm said it expected its sales in July to rise 30 percent to
a record.
"Investors in Japanese stocks can't aggressively buy or sell
at this moment as the external environment is holding steady,
with U.S. stocks pausing at high levels," said Yutaka Miura, a
senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"Optimism about solid corporate earnings was already factored
in during the market's recent strong run-up and that alone is no
longer strong enough reason to keep pushing up the market."
Companies scheduled to announce results on Monday included
Panasonic Corp <6752.T>, Astellas Pharma <4503.T> and Suzuki
Motor Corp <7269.T>. Investors also awaited Toyota Motor Corp's
<7203.T> earnings report due on Tuesday.
In choppy trade, the benchmark Nikkei <> slipped 28.51
points to 10,328.32, after rising 1.9 percent on Friday to end at
its highest level in 10 months.
The Nikkei's rise on Friday brought its gain for the week to
4.1 percent, while it also booked a 4 percent climb for July. It
was its fifth straight month of gains, its longest run since
2005.
The broader Topix <> added 0.5 percent to 954.70.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> ended 0.1 percent
higher on Friday after the U.S. government's first estimate of
gross domestic product showed it fell at a 1.0 percent annual
rate after tumbling 6.4 percent in the January-March period.
Economists had expected a 1.5 percent decline in the second
quarter. []
Market players said that with earnings results already
factored in, investors will be looking to economic data due later
in the week to gauge how the U.S. economy's recovery is
progressing.
The U.S. economy is expected to have lost 320,000 nonfarm
payroll jobs in July, a hefty loss but still an improvement over
last month's drop of 467,000. The unemployment rate is expected
to rise to 9.6 percent. The data will be released on Friday.
"Earnings have shown some improvement, but that is still due
to restructuring and cost cuts. Sales haven't really picked up
yet," said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi
Securities.
BANKS GAIN
Mitsubishi UFJ jumped 4.4 percent to 591 yen after Japan's
biggest bank said its April-June group net profit totalled 75.9
billion yen, helped by gains on its stock portfolio and a
gradually improving economy. That was higher than expectations
for a net profit of 59.2 billion yen, the average of two analyst
forecasts. []
Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T> climbed 2.8 percent to 221
yen, after Morgan Stanley raised its rating on Japan's No. 2 bank
to "overweight" from "underweight" despite the bank's posting its
fourth straight quarter in the red on Friday.
"We take a more aggressive stance as downside risks, credit
costs and valuation losses diminish, skewing the risk balance
towards the upside. Mizuho is our top pick in the sector," wrote
analyst Graeme Knowd.
Fuji Heavy shot up 6.8 percent to 408 yen. Subaru of America
cited benefits to the industry from the "cash-for-clunkers"
programme, as well as the launch of the remodelled Legacy and
Outback models. U.S. sales data is due to be announced later on
Monday. [] []
Among decliners, Showa Shell lost 6.2 percent to 993 yen
after slashing its operating income forecast to a loss of 25
billion yen from nil.
It also said it plans to cut its crude oil processing volumes
for August by 11 percent from the same month last year, due to
sluggish demand. []
Fuji Film Holdings <4901.T> shed 3.6 percent to 2,980 yen
after the company reported a first-quarter group operating loss
of 2.7 billion yen compared with a profit of 45.9 billion yen a
year earlier, hit by sluggish demand and a stronger yen.
Some 996 million shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's
first section, above last week's morning average of 959 million.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones, 939 to 588.
(Editing by Chris Gallagher)
