Japan's Nikkei inches up as tech stocks track Wall Street's gains

By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average inched up on Thursday, tracking Wall Street's gains overnight, with technology stocks leading the gains.

The Nikkei .N225 was up 0.1% at 50,385.37 as of 0159 GMT.

The broader Topix .TOPX inched up 0.18% at 3,413.53.

"There were not many participants in the market today, but the indexes managed to be in positive territory," said Shuutarou Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.

"But the indexes moved without clear directions."

Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T rose 0.96% to provide the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Technology investor SoftBank Group 9984.T rose 0.57% and robot maker Fanuc 6954.T gained 0.88%.

Memory chip maker Kioxia Holdings 285A.T jumped 2.4%. The gains came after its U.S. peer Micron Technology MU.O climbed 3.8% overnight to a closing record after the company issued a strong forecast last week.

Toyota Motor 7203.T rose 0.75% to become the biggest source of the Topix' gains. Sony Group 6758.T gained 0.85%.

Uniqlo clothing store operator Fast Retailing 9983.T fell 0.51%, weighing on the Nikkei the most. Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T fell 1.12% and fibre optic cable maker Fujikura 5803.T lost 2.24%.