Japan Tobacco, Nippon Steel, Panasonic: Japan Stocks Preview

The following companies may have unusual price changes in Japanese trading today. Stock symbols are in parentheses, and share prices are as of the latest close. The information in each item was released after markets shut unless stated otherwise.

Japan Tobacco Inc. (2914 JT): The cigarette maker's domestic sales volume rose 40 percent in November from a year earlier, the company said in a release. The stock fell 0.1 percent to 365,000 yen.

JX Holdings Inc. (5020 JT): JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corp., a unit of JX Holdings, secured a $263 million loan for its liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, according to a statement from Japan Bank for International Cooperation. JX added 0.2 percent to 481 yen.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. (9508 JT): Radioactive water was found at the utility's Genkai plant in Saga prefecture, Kyodo News said. The leak of 1.8 tons of cooling water containing radioactive material remained within a purification system at the plant and didn't escape outside, according to Kyodo. Kyushu Electric failed to report the leak when it announced the pump problem at the plant in southern Japan, Kyodo said. The stock lost 0.3 percent to 1,067 yen.

Nippon Steel Corp. (5401 JT), Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. (5405 JT): Japanese regulators will approve a merger of the two steel producers, the Asahi newspaper said. The companies aim to complete the tie-up by October 2012, according to the report. Nippon Steel dropped 3 percent to 192 yen, while Sumitomo Metal Industries fell 2.8 percent to 138 yen.

Nissan Motor Co. (7201 JT): The automaker expects to double sales of its Leaf electric car to full capacity of 40,000 vehicles next year, the Financial Times reported, citing an interview with Andy Palmer, the automaker's head of business strategy and corporate planning. The stock slipped 0.9 percent to 687 yen.

Olympus Corp. (7733 JT): The camera maker may file its earnings without having an auditor sign off on the statement so it can meet a Dec. 14 deadline, Jiji Press said. Auditing firms are unlikely to finish checking corrections to past and current reports by the filing date, Jiji said, which comes after the company admitted to trying to hide losses. Separately, the Asahi newspaper reported Olympus's office may be searched by Tokyo prosecutors after the company submits securities reports on Dec. 14. Olympus rose 2.4 percent to 1,206 yen.