Hitachi may beat forecast for first half of 2008

Hitachi Construction Machinery could beat their first-half profit estimates by as much as seven percent on account of a weaker than anticipated value of the yen. However, increasing uncertainties in the construction equipment market and anticipated declines in markets of the United States, Japan, and Europe have encouraged the company to cut back their global demand forecast of hydraulic excavators by 3 percent for the year ending in March 2009.