Tokyo Traders to Eye Greek Talks Next Week

Investors on the Tokyo stock market will be paying close attention to progress in talks to save Greece from bankruptcy next week, dealers said Friday.

At talks in Brussels between Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and his 16 Eurozone counterparts, Athens was given until Wednesday to meet three conditions in return for 130 billion euros in aid.

"If a decision comes next week, that would lift the weight on market sentiment," said Toshihiko Matsuno, head of research at SMBC Friend Securities.

"The environment for global markets would be great, boosting momentum," Matsuno said. "But I'm not sure if the good news would boost Japanese stocks as much as other markets."

Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said Japanese stocks have been overbought.

"It will take some time for market momentum to resume its upward pace," Ito told Dow Jones Newswires.

The benchmark Nikkei index topped the 9,000 mark on Wednesday for the first time in three months.

But profit-taking as well as the postponement of a final decision on the Greek bailout, which softened the euro against the yen, squeezed the market down to close the week a shade under 9,000.

In the week to February 10, the Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange added 1.30 percent, or 115.24 points, to 8,947.17, with the broader Topix index of all first-section issues up 2.42 percent, or 18.38 points, to 779.07.

Matsuno said he expected a tight trading range next week between 8,900 and 9,150.