Nikkei set to extend gains on Wall Street, yen

A businessman looks at share prices displayed outside a brokerage in Tokyo December 11, 2009.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to extend gains on Thursday from a three-month closing high, lifted by high-tech exporters on a weaker yen and after better-than-expected earnings from U.S. peers buoyed Wall Street.

Kirin Holdings Co may be in focus after the Nikkei business daily said the founding family of Suntory Holdings may take a 33.4 percent stake in the merged Kirin-Suntory firm, giving them veto power over board decisions.

Japanese markets were closed on Wednesday for a national holiday.

"The Nikkei will likely test the 10,400-500 level at first after U.S. stocks fared well during our holiday and the dollar/yen is still trading above 91 yen," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

"But the market then will likely become range-bound due to the winter holiday mood."

Energy-linked shares will also likely find favor after oil prices rose more than 3 percent to above $76 a barrel on Wednesday, market players said.

They expect the benchmark Nikkei to move between 10,300 and 10,500. The index rose 1.9 percent on Tuesday to end at 10,378.03, its highest finish since September 24.

The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8 percent on Wednesday. Better-than-expected results boosted Red Hat Inc shares and lifted other business software companies.

Micron Technology Inc also shot up after posting its first quarterly profit in nearly three years.

(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)