TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average is likely to slip on Wednesday after weaker-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence data prompted investors to take profits in U.S. equities.
Honda Motor Co will be in focus after it surprised with a near tripling of its annual profit forecasts that some said may yet be conservative, bumping it further ahead of rivals thanks to a dominant motorcycle business and line-up heavy in small cars.
Market watchers said they were keen to see if Honda's earnings would provide firm support for the market.
"The falls in New York indexes, in some cases for the third day in the row, raise the possibility of a true correction, with concern growing that it means a correction for share markets around the world," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"Trade today is likely to be a tug-of-war between this concern on the one hand and good factors for individual shares, such as the Honda results."
The Dow Jones industrial average eked out a slim gain after IBM raised its share repurchase plan to $9.2 billion and shares of Exxon Mobil and Chevron rose, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their third straight day of losses.
The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence fell to 47.7 in October, weaker than forecast and showing that consumers were increasingly concerned about job market conditions.
The benchmark Nikkei is likely to move between 10,100 to 10,300, market players said. It closed at 10,212.46 on Tuesday, marking its biggest one-day percentage loss in three weeks.
In a sign the market is likely to open lower, Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 10,160, down 0.9 percent from the Osaka close. STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Canon Inc, Ricoh Co
Office equipment makers Canon and Ricoh posted sharp falls in quarterly profit on sluggish copier demand as firms rein in spending, boding ill for rivals such as Xerox Corp and Konica Minolta Holdings.
-- Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Sumitomo Trust
Sumitomo Trust and Chuo Mitsui Trust are in merger talks, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, bringing together two struggling trust banks to better compete in Japan's lucrative asset management industry.
-- Monex Group
Monex, Japan's No. 3 internet securities firm, and No. 7 Orix Securities are in talks to merge, a source said on Wednesday. The source's comments come after the Nikkei business daily said the two firms were aiming for a merger next spring.
The new firm would become Japan's second-largest internet securities firm, the Nikkei added.
-- Itochu Corp
Trading house Itochu's net profit for the April-September first half is likely down about 64 percent, at about 50 billion yen, the Nikkei business daily said on Wednesday.
Itochu will likely maintain its forecast for a 21 percent decline in full year profit for the year ending next March, the Nikkei added.
-- Shimano Inc
The bicycle parts maker cut its full-year operating profit forecast by 18 percent, citing a slow recovery in demand. The firm said it now expects 20 billion yen in operating profit for 2009, down from 24.5 billion yen in the previous forecast.
-- Toshiba Corp
Toshiba said it now expects to have earned a first-half operating profit instead of a loss, thanks to cost cuts, but it kept its annual outlook unchanged.
Toshiba said it now expects to have earned an operating profit of 2 billion yen ($21.7 million) in April-September instead of a previously forecast loss of 30 billion yen.
-- Hitachi Construction Machinery Co
Japan's No.2 earth-moving equipment maker returned to profit in July-September and said a recovery in demand was underway, though it kept its full-year earnings outlook unchanged.
-- Nissan Motor Co
Partners Nissan and Renault SA are considering production of batteries for electric vehicles in France, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said on Tuesday. -- Oki Electric
Oki revised up its first-half earnings outlook for April-September to a smaller operating loss of 1.6 billion yen from a previous forecast for a 5 billion yen loss on a weaker-than-expected yen and cost cuts. --DeNA Co Ltd
DeNA said it bought the U.S. and China units of Cayman-based mobile phone software company IceBreaker Inc to shore up its social networking services abroad. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs))