Nikkei seen rangebound after US holiday, China eyed

Japan's Nikkei average is expected to move in a tight range on Tuesday after US markets were closed for a holiday and fears grew that a meeting of European finance ministers would not bring a swift end to the region's debt crisis.

Investors will look to Chinese markets for trading clues after Shanghai and Hong Kong equities dropped on Monday on China's latest move to fight inflation and talk of a property tax in Shanghai, market players said.

Sentiment may also be affected after US stock futures were knocked sharply lower by the news Apple Inc Chief Executive Steve Jobs would take medical leave for the third time since 2004.

"The market will probably move directionlessly at least until the Shanghai market opens. If Shanghai falls further after yesterday's big drop, the Nikkei could move lower into 10,400 territory," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.

"With major stocks under pressure, we can again see rises in sectors that have so far been overlooked by investors, such as agriculture or foods," he added.

With US markets closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday, there was no futures trading in Chicago. Nikkei futures in Osaka last traded at 10,500.

Analysts say the benchmark Nikkei is expected to move in a range of 10,400-10,550, after it ended flat at 10,502.86 on Monday.

Market players said they will be focusing on Apple's earnings results, due on Tuesday, and the market's reaction to Job's medical leave.

Investors will also look to results later in the week from economic bellwether General Electric and tech names such as Google and eBay for clues that the US economy is on a sustainable recovery path.

Stocks to watch:

Toyota Motor Corp

A union representing workers at Toyota plans not to push for wage hikes in annual negotiations, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Toyota also said it was halting afternoon operations on Monday at its 11 plants in Aichi in central Japan due to heavy snow, with plans to restart operations on Tuesday.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc

Daiwa Securities said on Monday it had launched its asset management business in India as it looks to tap into one of the largest retail asset management markets in the world.

Yoshinoya Holdings Co; Itochu Corp

Yoshinoya plans to become the largest holder of its own shares by buying back the 21% stake owned by trading house Itochu Corp for around 14 billion yen (USD 169 million), the Japanese fast food restaurant operator said on Monday.

The move will beef up Yoshinoya's holding to 25.7% from 4.7%, it said in a statement.

Elpida Memory Inc

Elpida plans to raise prices by about 10% as early as this month on personal computer DRAMs, which are selling for one-third of what they did a year ago, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Looking for an earnings turnaround, the company reckons that conditions are right for a price hike, the daily said, adding that of all types of DRAMs, the PC variety is said to have fallen the most in price.