TOKYO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to be range-bound on Tuesday, the first full trading day of 2009, with higher oil prices boosting trading firm Mitsubishi Corp even as profit-taking emerges to limit gains.
Bridgestone Corp, Japan's biggest tyre maker, expects its operating profit to fall 15 percent to about 100 billion yen ($1.07 billion) in calendar 2009, the Nikkei financial daily reported.
"The Nikkei has gone up for five trading days, and there's a sense the market may be a bit overheated, with investors moving to lock in profits," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at the equity division of Nikko Cordial Securities.
"While the market is waiting for U.S. jobs data on Friday, predicted to be pretty severe, hope for the new U.S. administration will still keep the downside solid for now."
Oil prices rose 5 percent on Monday as Israel's deepening incursion into Gaza and a dispute between Russia and Ukraine over natural gas heightened fears of supply disruptions.
The benchmark Nikkei is expected to move between 8,800 and 9,200. It closed at 9,043.12 on Monday, a half-day of trading, for its first close above 9,000 in nearly two months.
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 9,280 on Monday compared with the Osaka close of 9,070 STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Nomura Holdings Inc
Nomura is likely to book a third-quarter valuation loss of more than 50 billion yen ($535 million) on its stake in Fortress Investment Group, the Nikkei business daily reported.
-- Kyocera Corp, TDK Corp
Kyocera, TDK and three other large electronics parts makers are likely to cut capital outlays in fiscal 2009 to around 160 billion yen combined, almost half the total of about 310 billion yen for the 2008 business year, the Nikkei reported.
-- Elpida Memory Inc
Elpida Memory said on Monday that brokerage Nomura Holdings had converted 6 billion yen worth of its convertible bond, leaving the PC memory maker to redeem the remaining 44 billion yen.
-- Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd
Sumitomo Metal, Japan's second-largest copper smelter, said it has cut its copper production plan by 7 percent for the six months to March as the economic slump eats into demand for the metal.
-- Sony Corp
Sony is likely to announce closures of Japanese factories and major divisions early next month, the Times of London said on Monday, but the company denied any such plan existed.
-- Daiichi Sankyo Co
Japan's third-largest drugmaker said on Monday it would book an appraisal loss of 359.5 billion yen on a parent-company basis on its stake in India's Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd.
-- NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is yet to get approval from India's stock market regulator for an open offer for Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd, the managing director of the Indian firm's parent, Tata Teleservices, said on Monday.
-- Fast Retailing Co Ltd
December same-store sales at its domestic Uniqlo casual clothing chain climbed 10.3 percent from the same month a year earlier, saying its aggressive sales promotion led to robust sales.
The retailer booked the biggest monthly gain since March 2001 in November with a 32.2 percent jump in same-store sales.
-- Toyota Motor Co, Honda Motor Co
Automobile sales in Japan, excluding 660cc minivehicles, plunged 22 percent in December from a year earlier to the worst level on record for the month, capping a dismal 2008 when demand fell to a 34-year low. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Chris Gallagher)