TOKYO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Tokyo's Nikkei average is likely to ease on Thursday from a 10-month closing high hit the previous day, with investors expected to take a wait-and-see approach ahead of U.S. economic data and Japan's Aug. 30 election.
"Investors will likely want to lock in profits after the market booked new highs," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at Nikko Cordial Securities.
"The market has factored in a landslide victory by the Democratic Party, but it wants to wait and see what the party will do after the election."
Nissan Motor Co may draw attention after the automaker said it and Chrysler Group LLC have abandoned vehicle-supply projects announced last year that would have provided Nissan with a Chrysler-produced pickup truck.
Market participants expect the benchmark Nikkei to move between 10,500 and 10,650 on Thursday. It rose 1.4 percent the previous day to 10,639.71, its highest close since Oct. 3.
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago closed at 10,640 on Wednesday, unchanged from the Osaka close.
Japan's opposition Democratic Party leads Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party in newspaper polls ahead of the election. An opposition victory would end more than five decades of almost continuous rule by the LDP and raise the chances of breaking a stalemate in a divided parliament.
U.S. stocks were little changed on Wednesday despite solid reports on new home sales and durable goods orders as investors stayed cautious after a rally.
The United States will announced revised estimates of the second quarter economic growth later in the day. > Wall St ends flat; caution lingers after rally > Dollar gains as risk trade takes a breather > Solid bond auction beats summer doldrums > Gold ends slightly lower as dollar jumps > Oil falls on rising U.S. stockpiles
STOCKS TO WATCH
-- Sojitz
Venezuela's labor ministry declared on Wednesday a lockout of unionized workers at a plant that assembles Mitsubishi Motors Corp and Hyundai Motor Co vehicles illegal and ordered the factory to resume operations.
Assembler Sojitz shut down its plant in eastern Venezuela indefinitely on Monday citing workers' "indiscipline and anarchy" that has sharply cut productivity at the factory.
-- Toyota, other automakers
Toyota is recalling about 95,700 Toyota and Scion vehicles sold in the United States because ice could accumulate on their braking systems and make it harder for drivers to slow down.
Separately, preliminary sales figures showed that Japanese and South Korean automakers registered the biggest market share gains in the U.S. government's "cash for clunkers" program that ended this week.
-- Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co Ltd
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma said its experimental schizophrenia drug, lurasidone, was significantly better than placebo in a pivotal late-stage clinical trial, according to data released on Wednesday.
-- Fujitsu Ltd
IT firm Fujitsu said on Wednesday it was cutting up to 1,200 jobs in the UK in response to lower-than-anticipated revenues.
-- Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd
Department store operator Mitsukoshi Ltd aims to cut 1,000 jobs, or about 20 percent of its workforce, by boosting its voluntary retirement program, the Nikkei business daily said citing company executives.
The company's Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd unit, which is Japan's largest department store chain, will pitch the move to workers early next month and start soliciting retirees, the paper said. Workers are likely to leave this fiscal year.
-- Nippon Sheet Glass
Stuart Chambers said he will step down as chief executive of Nippon Sheet Glass to spend more time with his family, after a stint of a little more than a year as one of the few foreigners to head a Japanese firm.
-- Tokuyama Corp
Tokuyama, Japan's biggest polysilicon maker, said it plans to raise up to 49.9 billion yen to build a plant in Malaysia to supply polysilicon to solar cell makers and to revamp other lines. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)