TOKYO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to fall on Friday after U.S. data the previous day showed a below-forecast expansion in manufacturing activity, stirring concerns about the economic recovery's strength.
One stock to watch will be Seven & I Holdings after the retailer on Thursday announced a 20 percent drop in first-half operating profit as it considers closing 16 percent of its supermarkets to cope with a sharp sales decline, while keeping a recently revised-down forecast.
The U.S. Institute for Supply Management's index of national factory activity declined in September from August's reading, and although the latest reading still indicated growth, it was below economists' forecast in a Reuters poll.
The ISM reading and data showing a bigger-than-expected rise in jobless claims helped trigger a fall in U.S. equities on Thursday, with the the Dow and S&P 500 suffering their worst one-day fall in three months.
"There is almost a one-two punch of falls in U.S. shares and a higher yen, with the yen standing near 89.50 to the dollar," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The Nikkei is likely to stay weak after its fall the previous day, Miura said, adding that the benchmark index would likely trade between 9,800 and 10,000 during the day.
The Nikkei fell 1.5 percent on Thursday to a two-month closing low of 9,978.64 in light trade, starting the second half of Japan's fiscal year on a weak note.
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago ended Thursday at 9,845.00, down 1.4 percent from the Osaka close.
The benchmark share index has slid about 7 percent since hitting an 11-month high of 10,767.00 in late August, hurt by worries that the yen's strength may dent exporters' profits, and uncertainties about the policies of Japan's new government.
The dollar stood at 89.51 yen on Friday, down 0.1 percent from late U.S. trading on Thursday.
The yen hit an eight-month high against the dollar of 88.23 yen on trading platform EBS earlier this week, and investors are fretting that the yen may be poised gain further.
Many Japanese exporters have set their exchange rate assumptions for the dollar around 90-95 yen for the current fiscal year to March.
The impact of a stronger yen on earnings of exporter companies is a concern for market players as a stronger Japanese currency eats into exporters' repatriated profits. STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Takeda Pharmaceutical
Japan's largest drugmaker said on Thursday it would set up marketing companies in Mexico, Sweden, Belgium and Turkey to speed its global diversification efforts.
Takeda said it would sell its flagship Actos diabetes drug and other mainstay products in Mexico, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg by using the sales forces of the four new marketing units.
-- Toshiba Corp, Fujitsu Ltd's
Toshiba said on Thursday it has taken over Fujitsu's loss-making hard drive business as it seeks to eke out growth in notebook PC hard drives in a market dominated by bigger rivals. (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Chris Gallagher)