JAPAN DAYBOOK: 20-Year Bond Sale, Softbank’s Cloud Service

The government will auction 1.1 trillion yen ($13.2 billion) in 20-year bonds. Bond futures fell toward a two-month low yesterday as traders cut holdings in advance of today’s sale.

WHAT TO WATCH *Softbank (9984 JT) and VMWare hold a joint briefing on cloud services at 11 a.m. *Credit Suisse’s Japan head of private banking gives a briefing at 11 a.m. *20-year bond auction result at 12:45 p.m. *Tokyo Stock Exchange president Atsushi Saito talks to reporters at 2 p.m. *Calbee (2229 JT) releases terms of its share sale ahead of its listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Time not available.

EQUITY PREVIEW *Dai-Ichi Seiko will sell shares to the public to raise 6.44 billion yen. *Daikin (6367 JT) conditioner maker will spend 30 billion yen to construct a new research center, the Nikkei newspaper said. *Fancl (4921 JT) said sales dropped 4.3 percent in January from a year ago. *Fuji (8860 JO) will sell shares to the public to raise 1.42 billion yen *Kyowa Hakko Kirin (4151 JT) will purchase ProStrakan Group for $474 million. *Pocket Card (8519 JT) will turn Famima Credit Corp. into a wholly owned subsidiary, and in a separate deal Itochu (8001 JT), FamilyMart (8028 JT) and Sumitomo Mitsui will own significant stakes in Pocket Card. *Sharp (6753 JT) had its application to build a plant in Nanjing rejected by China as its technology was “old,” the Yomiuri newspaper reported. *Toyota Industries (6201 JT) and Toyo Electric Manufacturing (6505 JT) will buy shares in each other and form a motor venture

ANALYST RATINGS FOR NIKKEI 225 COMPANIES *Sony (6758 JT) raised to “buy” at Citi