Nikkei gains 1.1 pct, techs rise on Apple results

                                
 * Techs strong after Apple results beats estimates
                                
 * China-linked shares up on hopes of good economic data
                                
 * Trade thin, rises capped by domestic investor selling
                                
 By Elaine Lies
                                
 TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose
1.1 percent on Tuesday, buoyed by tech shares such as Kyocera
Corp <6971.T> after a wave of solid earnings helped underscore
the U.S. economy was on the mend and pushed Wall Street to a
12-month high.
                                
 Shares in companies with a large exposure to the Chinese
market, such as Hitachi Construction <6305.T>, a maker of
earth-moving equipment, gained on expectations of strong economic
growth ahead of GDP data later this week.
                                
 A raft of U.S. earnings included Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> beating
estimates as iPhone and Mac sales hit quarterly records, while
Texas Instruments <TXN.N> also did better than expected.
[ID:nN19395089]
                                
 "These results are inevitably providing a bit of a boost,
particularly for parts suppliers and chip makers, while a whole
range of China-linked shares are also doing well," said Koichi
Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
                                
 "But the Nikkei still isn't rising as much as you might
expect given this lineup of good incentives and the improving
economic climate -- and that's due to a lot of selling by
domestic institutional investors."
                                
 The benchmark Nikkei <.N225> rose 111.07 points to 10,347.58
and appeared to be on track for its highest close in a month. The
broader Topix <.TOPX> gained 1 percent to 914.68.
                                
 While foreign investors, long a key driver of the Nikkei,
were buying, market players said this was still relatively
limited compared to other major share markets and was not
providing as much of a boost as might be hoped.
                                
 "Foreign investors remain lukewarm towards Japanese shares in
comparison to other Asian markets, so this will make it hard for
the Nikkei to renew its high for the year," said Kenichi Hirano
at Tachibana Securities.
                                
 "Most of those who are buying Japan appear to be doing it to
get country balance in their portfolios, rather than being
motivated by a strong interest in the shares themselves."
                                
 TECHS CLIMB ON EARNINGS
                                
 Apple's profits and sales streaked past Wall Street
forecasts, with sales of Mac computers jumping 17 percent and its
shares jumped 7 percent in extended trading. [ID:n19395039]
                                
 Tech shares took heart, with Kyocera gaining 1.6 percent to
8,120 yen, memory maker Tokyo Electron <8035.T> rising 1.4
percent to 5,770 yen and Nikon <7731.T>, a top maker of steppers,
climbing 2 percent to 1,782 yen.
                                
 While analysts said Apple's earnings were indeed encouraging,
they also warned against reading too much into the figures.
"I'm not sure you can really say that Apple's sales indicate
improving U.S. consumer sentiment, it's just Apple that's doing
well," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya
Securities.
China-linked shares did well after senior Chinese official
said on Monday that China's gross domestic product grew more than
7 percent in the first nine months and that China would have no
difficulty reaching the government's full-year GDP growth target
of 8 percent. [ID:nBJC002361].
                                
 GDP figures for the third quarter are due on Thursday, with
economists polled by Reuters expecting year-on-year growth of 8.9
percent.
Komatsu <6301.T>, the world's second-biggest maker of
earth-moving equipment, rose 2 percent to 1,833 yen and Hitachi
Construction rose 2 percent to 2,270 yen.
The Nikkei business daily also said Komatsu likely secured
about 10 billion yen ($110 million) in operating profit for the
July-September quarter on strong demand for construction
machinery in China and other emerging countries.
                                
 But seafood processor Maruha Nichiro <1334.T> fell 2.1
percent to 138 yen after the company cut its operating profit
forecast for the year to March by 35 percent to 13 billion yen
($143 million), citing dwindling consumer spending and falling
prices for fish including bluefin tuna.
                                
 Trade was light on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with
863 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's
morning average of 956 million.
                                
 Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by nearly 3 to 1.
 (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)