Nikkei gains 0.5 pct on upbeat earnings, yen helps

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.5 percent on Wednesday after upbeat results from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Intel (INTC.O) lifted hopes of a recovery for the global economy and helped weaken the yen.

But market gains were limited, with some analysts saying that investors who were hurt during a nine-day slide in the market which was broken on Tuesday, may be selling into the upturn to cut their losses.

"Strong earnings results from the United States, the yen's stalled advance and upbeat results from some domestic companies are favoring the market," said Shoji Yoshigoe, a senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

Domestic firms with better-than-expected earning prospects included Sanyo Electric Co (6764.T) which advanced 0.5 percent after the Nikkei business daily said it would book a smaller operating loss than the company's current estimate.

"The Nikkei could have risen even further today given all the market-friendly factors, but a rapid advance was made difficult after the damage suffered by investors during the sharp drop this month," said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 rose 42.52 points to 9,304.33. It fell to an eight-week low of 9,050.33 on Monday after climbing to a six-month high of 10,170.82 in mid-June.

The broader Topix gained 0.3 percent to 870.72.

CHIP-RELATED STOCKS, SQUARE ENIX RISE

Goldman Sachs trounced forecasts with a 33 percent surge in quarterly earnings, while chipmaker Intel reported results after the bell that surpassed expectations, sending its stock 7.4 percent higher in extended trade.

Chip-related stocks rose after Intel's results, with Tokyo Electron (8035.T) gaining 1.7 percent to 4,310 yen and Advantest Corp (6857.T) adding 2.1 percent to 1,751 yen.

Data released on Tuesday showed U.S. retail sales climbed 0.6 percent in June, although a big part of the gain was due to rising gasoline prices, indicating that consumers remained wary of stepping up discretionary spending.

Exporters gained as a recent surge in the yen was tempered, with Sony Corp (6758.T) rising 0.7 percent to 2,300 yen and Canon Inc (7751.T) climbing 0.7 percent to 3,040 yen.

The dollar edged up 0.1 percent to 93.60 yen, pulling back from a five-month low of 91.73 yen hit on Monday.

Sanyo advanced 0.5 percent to 209 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that it will likely report an operating loss of about 5 billion yen ($53.4 million) for the April-September first half, better than its original forecast for a loss of 20 billion yen.

Shares of Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical (4530.T), a drug and health goods maker, climbed 2.8 percent to 3,270 yen after the company said on Tuesday it would buy Miami-based Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc NOVN.O for $430 million to expand in the United States.

Square Enix (9684.T) jumped 4.4 percent to 2,130 yen after the video game maker said shipments in Japan of its latest sequel to the blockbuster 'Dragon Quest' game passed three million units four days after its launch on Saturday.

Shares of Toko Electric (6921.T) were bid higher by their daily limit of 80 yen to 380 yen, up 26.7 percent from Tuesday's close, after the company and Toshiba (6502.T) said they plan to set up a joint venture to make electronic gauges to measure electricity, gas and water use.

The gauges will be used as part of so-called smart grids, they said. Toshiba added 2.1 percent to 340 yen.

Kawasaki Kisen (9107.T) and other shipping companies were boosted after the Baltic Exchange's dry freight index .BADI rose more than 4 percent on Tuesday to halt a nine-day drop.

Kawasaki Kisen gained 2.3 percent to 350 yen and Nippon Yusen (9101.T) rose 3.1 percent to 397 yen.

Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 1 billion shares changing hands, in line with last week's morning average.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones 913 to 645.

(Editing by Joseph Radford)