By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average was set to rise on Thursday after the Dow Industrials broke above 10,000 for the first time in a year on robust results from JPMorgan Chase & Co and strong U.S retail sales, with exporters such as Canon Inc likely to gain.
But rises in the benchmark Nikkei are likely to be limited, particularly should the yen once again advance against the dollar. The greenback fell below 89 yen on Wednesday but rose back to 89.42 yen on Thursday.
"Financial shares are likely to see some short-covering after the JPMorgan results came in strong, but fundamentally it's still too early to see a real recovery in this sector, and this will help limit the Nikkei's rise," said Kenichi Hirano from Tachibana Securities.
"The focus for the Nikkei today will be whether it breaks above the 25-day moving average and closes above it as well."
Resistance has developed around the level of the 25-day moving average, which currently comes in around 10,140. Trading house Mitsubishi Corp and Medipal Holdings, a pharmaceutical wholesaler, might attract interest as they plan to enter the drug wholesale market in China by tying up with Sinopharm Group, China's largest drug distributor.
Investor optimism, already strong after good results from Intel Corp this week, was further bolstered when JPMorgan Chase & Co's quarterly profit rose sharply, boosting hopes other major Wall Street banks will report strong results this week. U.S. retail sales, excluding autos, rose for a second month, offering cautious optimism that spending would support the economy as it struggles out of recession.
The benchmark Nikkei is likely to move between 10,000 and 10,200, market players said. It closed at 10,060.21 on Wednesday.
In a sign the market is likely to start higher, Nikkei futures traded in Chicago rose 1.2 percent from the Osaka close of 10,080. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2253 GMT ------------
LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1092.02 1.75% 18.830 USD/JPY 89.42 0.09% 0.080 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.4229 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1062.1 0.02% 0.200 US CRUDE 75.55 0.49% 0.370 DOW JONES 10015.86 1.47% 144.80 ------------------------------------------------------------- > Dow passes 10,000 mark on earnings optimism > Dollar tumbles to fresh 14-month low vs euro > Bonds sag, Wall Street rally pares safety bid > Gold eases after hitting record on dollar, oil > Oil hits 2009 high on economic optimism STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Omron
Omron revised up its first-half earnings forecast for April-September to a smaller operating loss of 8 billion yen, from a previous outlook for a 13 billion yen loss on fixed cost cuts, even as it kept its sales outlook.
The maker of thermometers and sensors kept its full-year outlook unchanged.
-- Inpex, other oil-related shares
Oil rose above $75 a barrel to settle at a record high for the year on Wednesday as economic optimism hinted at a recovery in global energy demand. (Editing by Rodney Joyce)