By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average made modest gains on Wednesday after the dollar rose against the yen, but remained tethered in a narrow range for a seventh straight session amid little progress at the crippled nuclear plant.
The dollar rose to 82.51 yen on Tuesday, its highest in more than two weeks and above the 81.98 peak of March 18, the day Japanese authorities intervened to stop runaway yen gains.
That lifted post-quake underperformers like Nissan Motor which added 1.1 percent. Nissan has lost almost 13 percent since the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan over two weeks ago.
Both Nissan and Toyota Motor Corp , which have suffered much of loss of domestic production due to disruptions in the supply chain, were among the most actively traded shares by turnover on the Tokyo stock exchange's main board.
"Investors are taking heart from gains in the yen and stronger overseas stocks, but with the nuclear situation so volatile, the index won't go higher any time soon," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
The Nikkei has stayed trapped in a narrow range around 9,500 for seven days.
"Foreigners took advantage of cheaper stock prices when the index was at levels around 8,000, but once it goes above 9,500 they're much more reluctant to buy more aggressively," said Fujito.
The Nikkei gained 0.5 percent, or 48.76 points, to 9,506.36. The broader Topix index advanced 0.2 percent to 851.53.
Japanese shares have lost about 9 percent since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and a subsequent nuclear safety crisis, triggered the biggest two-day rout in the market since 1987. In contrast, the MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan has gained 3.7 percent.
Analysts said they expect the benchmark Nikkei to move between 9,400 and 9,600 on Wednesday.
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power slid another 12.7 percent on Wednesday, on top of a 47-year low hit a day earlier as the government pondered whether to nationalise the operator of a stricken nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric's shares fell as low as 494 yen from Tuesday's close of 566 yen, before recovering a little to trade at 504 yen, down 10.8 percent.
The dollar rose as a steady rise in U.S. yields gained traction this week as several Federal Reserve policymakers said the central bank would have to start tightening monetary policy soon to avoid inflation.
Shares of Hitachi Ltd jumped 5.5 percent to 424 yen, helped by a Nikkei newspaper report that the electronics giant has partially resumed operations at its biggest factory complex with output expected to return to pre-disaster levels next month.[ID:nL3E7ET31A] (Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) Reuters Terminal users can see other related news and rates by double-clicking on: All Nikkei indices <0#.NIKKEI> All shares listed on The benchmark Nikkei ended the day up 1.1 percent or 101.12 points at 9,536.13, Nikkei-225 <0#.N225> N225 index TOPIX index Nikkei Japan 1000 TOPIX sector data Nikkei 300 index TOPIX futures data <0#JTI:> Osaka N225 data <0#JNI:> Chicago N225 data <0#NK:> Top 30 by volume Top 30 by value Total volume Total value 1st section sector RICs All TSE weighted avg Top 30 gainers by pct Top 30 losers by pct Top 30 net gainers Top 30 net losers
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