* Nikkei hurt by profit-taking after 4 days of gains
* But index comes off session lows as upbeat mood intact
* Wall Street's reaction to Obama's economy plan eyed
* Nikkei holds above 25-day moving average
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average edged
lower on Tuesday, dented by profit-taking after four straight
days of large gains and as the yen's strength shows little sign
of abating.
But the benchmark managed to hold above its 25-day moving
average, a sign that it could resume climbing once profit-taking
was absorbed.
"The Nikkei managed to bounce from session lows as the market
continued to draw momentum from the upward push gained after
encouraging U.S. jobs data last week, which helped curb extreme
pessimism towards the economy," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a
strategist with Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The Nikkei has recovered about 5 percent this month
following a 7.5 percent slide in August but remains one of the
worst performing major world stock markets this year, hurt by
worries about the impact of the yen's strength on corporate
earnings and the fragile economic recovery.
It fell 21.52 points or 0.2 percent to 9,279.80, pulling back
from a session low of 9,223.65.
The index is holding above its 25-day moving average,
currently at around 9,210, which is considered a proxy for a
one-month moving average and is closely watched in Japan, and at
one stage, it briefly poked its head into positive territory.
The broader Topix <> was little changed at 838.73.
Market players are keen to see how Wall Street reacts to U.S.
President Barack Obama's infrastructure plan proposal.
Scrambling to spur job creation, Obama proposed a six-year
plan on Monday to rebuild U.S. infrastructure with an initial $50
billion investment and prepared new business tax cuts.
[]
Investors were also keeping an eye on the Bank of Japan as it
wraps up a two-day policy meeting. Many expect the central bank
to keep monetary policy unchanged as it has already eased at an
emergency meeting last week.
"The consensus is for the BOJ to stand pat on monetary policy
as it has already eased last week. But focus is on the governor's
press conference after the meeting and whether he mentions
anything about the yen's strength," said Yamagishi at Mitsubishi
UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The dollar traded at 84.20 yen <JPY=>, within sight of a
15-year low of 83.58 yen hit on electronic trading platform EBS
late last month. []
If the Nikkei rises above 9,362, an intraday high hit on
August 20, that would be a one-month high. After that, its next
target is 9,460, where the bottom of its Ichimoku cloud lies.
Support lies at 9,049, its tenkan sen, an indicator of
short-term trends. Ichimoku charts are popular with Japanese
traders.
NIKKEI JOINERS JUMP
Shares of Tokyo Tatemono Co Ltd <8804.T> and Nippon Electric
Glass Co Ltd <5214.T> climbed after the publisher of the Nikkei
225 said on Monday it would add the two stocks as new components
of the index in the coming weeks. []
Tokyo Tatemono jumped 3.6 percent to 320 yen and Nippon
Electric Glass added 2.2 percent to 1,088 yen. Clarion Co Ltd
<6796.T>, which will be removed on Oct. 1, lost 7.5 percent to
160 yen.
Shares of exporters lost ground after having led gains in the
overall market the previous day.
Kyocera Corp <6971.T> fell 0.6 percent to 7,720 yen and
Advantest Corp <6857.T> shed 0.4 percent to 1,680 yen. Honda
Motor Co <7267.T> was down 0.4 percent at 2,845 yen.
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
