TOKYO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average is likely to ease on Friday in light holiday trade after gaining the previous day, with a series of data out before the start of trade expected to underline the weakness in the economy.
One stock in focus will be Nissin Foods Holdings Co after a newspaper reported the Japanese instant noodle maker and the holding company of Russia's No. 1 instant noodle maker, LLC Mareven Food Central, have agreed to form a capital alliance.
Data on consumer prices, household spending, the job market, industrial output and retail sales are all due for release before the start of trade at 9:00a.m. (0000 GMT).
"The market will likely start lower after it sped up gains towards the end of yesterday's trade and as economic indicators out before the open are expected to be bad," said Yumi Nishimura, manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
"The Nikkei average will probably hover around 8,500 in directionless trade due to holidays in Europe, the United States and parts of Asia."
U.S. markets were closed on Thursday for Christmas, and they reopen on Friday. In Asia, Hong Kong's stock market remains shut on Friday and will reopen next Monday.
Market participants expect the benchmark Nikkei to trade between 8,500 and 8,700 on Friday.
It rose 1 percent the previous day to end at 8,599.50, but trading volume on the Tokyo exchange's first section hit its lowest since May 2005, excluding half-day trading sessions. STOCKS TO WATCH
-- JFE Holdings
JFE Steel Co, a unit of JFE Holdings, stepped up planned output cuts on Thursday in the face of plunging demand and became the first Japanese player to shut a blast furnace as the downturn bites. -- Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd
Japanese drugmaker Takeda said on Thursday it would cancel 3.1 percent of its shares outstanding on Jan 16.
-- Kao Corp
Japan's largest toiletry goods maker Kao aims to be a fully fledged global player with its overseas revenue ratio rising as high as 60 percent by 2020, an executive said on Thursday.
-- Nippon Yusen KK
Japanese biggest ocean shipping company Nippon Yusen said on Thursday its president, Koji Miyahara, was stepping down after five years at the helm and would be replaced by Yasumi Kudo, an executive vice president. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi)