Tokyo stocks are expected to stay bearish until spring as global credit crunch worries, resulting from the U.S. subprime mortgage market turmoil, continue to hang over investors in the start of the year.

The benchmark 225-issue Nikkei stock average is likely to move between 14,000 and 18,000 in 2008, and the dollar is forecast to change hands between ¥104 and ¥118, traders and market watchers said.

Some analysts said the Nikkei may reach 19,000 either in the middle or by the end of 2008 if investors are able to get past the subprime debacle, which rocked global financial markets in the second half of 2007.