TOKYO, May 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei is set to edge higher helped by gains on Wall Street as an unexpectedly strong report on U.S. payrolls helped equities bounce back on Friday, but volume may stay low as investors wait for the outcome of major corporate earnings this week.
The Nikkei tumbled on Friday as a rout in oil and commodity prices pummelled resource stocks and sent the yen higher, but analysts said that U.S. payrolls tempered worries that stocks could suffer the sharp declines seen last week in commodities.
While analysts added that investors are still cautious on the strong yen after the dollar dipped below 80.00 yen last week, the mood is gradually recovering.
The dollar traded at 80.73 yen early on Monday.
"Investors are getting past pessimistic sentiment on the U.S. economy, but trading may be thin today as investors want to see major corporate earnings like Toyota this week," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities, adding that a lower futures close in Chicago suggests market gains may be small on Monday.
The benchmark Nikkei fell 1.5 percent to 9,859.20 on Friday, while the broader Topix dropped 1.1 percent,or 9.05 points, to 856.50.
Nikkei futures in Chicago <2NKc1> ended at 9,785 on Friday
compared with a Nikkei futures close in Osaka
Analysts said that the Nikkei may trade between 9,750-9,950 on Monday, with a mid-term resistance level seen at 10,000, a psychologically important level marked on May 2. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2303 GMT ------------
INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1340.2 0.38% 5.100
USD/JPY 80.67 -0.01% -0.010
10-YR US TSY YLD 3.1477 -- 0.000
SPOT GOLD 1490.75 -0.22% -3.300
US CRUDE
> Jobs report helps Wall St salvage sour week > Euro posts worst week since January; prospects dim > Greece report sparks bond short covering > Silver rise ends five-day rout, gold up on US jobs > US crude up more than $1,rebounds from record weekly fall
STOCKS TO WATCH
--Toyota Motor
Toyota Motor Corp plans to make plug-in capabilities standard for Prius hybrid models slated to debut in 2014, the Nikkei business daily reported. [ID:nTKU000147]
--Chubu Electric Power
In light of the prospect of its nuclear power complex going offline, Chubu Electric Power is considering restarting older, fossil fuel-burning plants that had been taken out of service, the Nikkei business daily said.
--Sumitomo Chemical
Sumitomo Chemical will enter the smart phone touch panel market, the Nikkei business daily reported.
The company is building a 20 billion yen factory in South Korea that is scheduled to start producing panels in 2012. It will supply all products to the Samsung Electric Co. group, the Nikkei said.
--Softbank Corp
Softbank Corp is expected to have increased its group operating profit by 30 percent on the year to around 620 billion yen in fiscal 2010, the Nikkei business daily said.
(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Joseph Radford)