Japan's Nikkei rebounds but fails to make up three days of losses

By Satoshi Sugiyama

TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Thursday, as the market tried to stabilise after a three-session losing streak sparked by the Middle East war, though gains were not enough to recoup the cumulative loss.

The Nikkei 225 Index .N225 gained 1.9% to close at 55,278.06, trimming gains from a 4.4% surge earlier in the day. The broader Topix .TOPX ended 1.9% higher at 3,702.67 after rallying nearly 4% earlier.

The Nikkei fell to a one-month low on Wednesday, as part of a broader selloff in Asian equities, and shed 7.8% over the three sessions, with investors selling risk assets amid the Middle East conflict and booking profits after record highs.

"When share prices were spiking right until recently, the market felt overheated regardless of the timeframe you looked at," said Shuutaro Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory.
"But now that we've seen a sharp pullback, that short-term sense of overheating is starting to dissipate."

Asian shares rallied on Thursday amid a decline in U.S. Treasuries, signalling a tentative recovery in risk appetite that has been hammered by the escalating war in the Middle East.

Semiconductor-related heavyweights uplifted the Nikkei index, with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T gaining 4.2% and chip-making machinery manufacturer Tokyo Electron 8035.T up 2.5%. SoftBank Group 9984.T, a technology and investment conglomerate, climbed 4.3%.

The energy explorers index .IMING.T leaped 6.8%, with oil and gas explorer Inpex 1605.T notching a record closing high.

On the flip side, airline shares edged lower, with Japan's largest air carrier ANA Holdings 9202.T losing 0.7% and rival Japan Airlines 9201.T slipping 1.1%, as concerns over Middle East tensions and elevated oil prices lingered.

There were 176 advancers on the Nikkei index against 48 decliners.