Nikkei rises 1.8 pct, ends best quarter since 1995
* Nikkei up 23 pct in April-June, best qtrly gain since 1995
* Nikkei briefly touches 10,000
* Elpida rises after government says to invest
* Optimism grows ahead of U.S., Japan indicators
TOKYO, June 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.8 percent on Tuesday to finish April-June up 23 percent, its best quarterly gain since 1995, buoyed by growing hopes that the worst of the global economic slump may be over.
The Nikkei briefly hit 10,000 for the first time in two weeks on Tuesday, with Fujifilm Holdings Corp (4901.T) surging after Mizuho Securities upgraded its rating on the stock.
Elpida Memory Inc (6665.T) rose 1.4 percent after the Japanese government pledged to prop up the loss-making chip maker with up to $1.7 billion in public and private capital and loans. [ID::nT51912]
Analysts said the market mood continued to brighten as the first quarter of Japan's financial year came to an end, but investor skittishness is likely to spark selling to lock in profits on any rises over 10,000 for a while.
"With the rise to 10,000, the market has factored in a recovery in economic sentiment and corporate earnings to a certain extent," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
At 30.5, the 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio for the MSCI Japan is holding near its highest level in a decade -- showing that investors are already expecting a sharp recovery in earnings .MSCIJP.
Unless the economy and corporate earnings were to strengthen even more than expected, it may be hard for the Nikkei to rise above 10,000 and stay there, Akino said.
The Nikkei may rise above 11,000 towards the end of the year once investors begin focusing on prospects for a recovery in the economy and corporate earnings next year, he added.
The benchmark Nikkei .N225 ended up 174.97 points at 9,958.44, after briefly rising to as high as 10,000.30 and edging up towards an eight-month intraday high of 10,170.82 hit earlier in June.
The broader Topix rose 1.6 percent to 929.76.
The Bank of Japan's tankan quarterly survey of business sentiment comes out on Wednesday, and among a slew of U.S. indicators is jobs data due out on Thursday. Continued...
