* Nikkei on track for 2nd straight day of gains
* Hopes for China stimulus and economy boost average
* Market players say too early to say turning point is here
* Exporters rise after dlr hits 4-mth high on yen
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.7
percent on Thursday, on track for a second straight day of gains
as shipping firms, exporters and machinery stocks like Komatsu
Ltd <6301.T> climbed on hopes for a China stimulus plan.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday that China will
achieve 8 percent growth this year, a day after U.S. stocks
snapped a five-day losing streak and other markets surged on
speculation that Wen would add to a 4 trillion yuan ($585
billion) stimulus plan unveiled in November. []
"Expectations may not play out, but right now this is just
about the only positive factor for the world," said Koichi Ogawa,
chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
"It's hard to know yet if this is a turning point, and this
is especially true in Japan, as recent support from public
pension fund buying makes it hard to tell if we've really hit the
bottom yet."
But he added that even if the Nikkei hasn't touched bottom,
the January-March quarter probably will be quite close.
The benchmark Nikkei <> rose 196.90 points in active
trade to 7,486.86 and looked set to end the day positive. That
would mark the first time the average will have risen for two
straight days since late January.
The broader Topix <> rose 2.2 percent to 748.34.
Construction machinery surged for a second straight day on
expectations of Chinese spending on infrastructure and
manufacturing.
Komatsu gained 5 percent to 1,088 yen and Hitachi
Construction <6305.T> climbed 4.4 percent to 1,266 yen.
Shippers, also very sensitive to prospects for China's
economy, steamed higher after the key Baltic Dry freight index
<.BADI> rose 2.5 percent on Wednesday.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines <9104.T> rose 6.2 percent to 498 yen and
Kawasaki Kisen <9107.T> gained 5.1 percent to 311 yen. Nippon
Yusen <9101.T> rose 4.2 percent to 402 yen.
Exporters rose broadly, also helped by a retreat in the yen.
The dollar on Wednesday rose to a four-month high against the
yen, and was up 0.2 percent on the day at 99.36 yen in Tokyo,
Investors worry about a strong yen because it eats into
exporter profits when repatriated.
Honda Motor Co <7267.T> climbed 3.2 percent to 2,275 yen and
Panasonic Corp <6752.T> rose 4.5 percent to 1,151 yen. Hitachi
Ltd <6501.T> gained 4.8 percent to 261 yen.
But Japanese market players remained wary.
"The last stimulus plan that China announced was so huge that
I wonder if people aren't expecting too much," said Katsuhiko
Kodama, a senior strategist at Toyo Securities.
"The markets may well start seeing some light this month, but
after that it's hard to know. A lot depends on the United
States."
Trade was active, with 1.2 billion shares changing hands on
the Tokyo Stock exchange's first section compared to last week's
morning average of 967 million.
Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones by more than 8 to
1.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
