* Nikkei crawls higher on resource demand, glass
* But resistance, lack of fresh factors inhibit gains
* Asahi Glass climbs after slew of brokerage upgrades
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, June 3 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose
0.4 percent on Wednesday, buoyed by smelters on sustained demand
for metals amid signs the global recession may be easing.
Asahi Glass <5201.T> climbed after a slew of brokerage
upgrades that cited long-term signs of hope for the economy.
But investors remained wary and trade was subdued, with rises
capped by profit-taking amid a lack of fresh trading factors and
looming resistance levels.
"There's been enough improvement in the global economy to say
that we've put the worst-case scenario behind us, but we still
need more proof that things are really improving," said Yutaka
Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei <> rose 34.95 points to 9,739.26
after closing at an eight-month high on Tuesday, while the
broader Topix <> gained 0.2 percent to 915.17.
It has gained 39 percent since hitting a bear market low just
above 7,000 in March, but further gains will take time.
"It was very tough to overcome resistance around 9,500 and
it's also going to be hard to rise from here on in, basically
because a lot of shares aren't keeping up with the economic
improvement in terms of valuation," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head
of trading at Jujiya Securities.
"Nobody has enough confidence to hold onto shares for a long
time, meaning they'll buy on dips and sell fast on rises."
Resistance is seen at 9,800, where the 52-week moving average
comes in, and then at 9,900 -- a 38.2 percent retracement from an
early June 2008 high of around 14,600, after which the Nikkei
began its tumble that led to a 26-year low just under 7,000 in
late October.
Activity is likely to be limited ahead of U.S. data due later
on Wednesday, including durable goods orders, as investors seek
further reassurance.
A surprise surge in U.S. pending homes sales, which rose 6.7
percent in April for the largest monthly gain in seven and a half
years,also helped support the Nikkei.
GLASS AND METAL
Given the dearth of strong overall factors, investors honed
in on share or sector-specific details.
Asahi Glass climbed 4.1 percent after a wave of brokerage
upgrades, with J.P. Morgan initiating coverage on Monday at
"overweight," Mizuho Securities on Tuesday hiking it from "3" to
"2," and Goldman Sachs on the same day raising it to "buy" from
"neutral" and putting it on its conviction buy list.
"Potential upside catalysts for the shares are a profit
overshoot versus guidance and macro indicators such as stronger
auto production and construction starts," wrote Goldman Sachs
analyst Mari Murakami.
"We expect the sheet glass business environment to remain
difficult, but believe profits are at a long-term bottom with
both volume and price trends set to improve," she added.
Other glass makers rose as well, with Nippon Sheet Glass
<5202.T> up 1.4 percent to 281 yen and Nippon Electric Glass
<5214.T> gaining 4.9 percent to 967 yen.
The glass and ceramics sub-index <.IGLSS.T> climbed 2
percent, the top gainer among the sub-indexes.
Commodities and metal prices have increased, helped by signs
that China's economy is stabilising, with copper hitting a
7-1/2-month high on Tuesday.
Smelter Sumitomo Metal Mining <5713.T> gained 2.9 percent to
1,444 yen and Nippon Mining Holdings <5016.T> rose 2.6 percent to
556 yen. Dowa Holdings <5714.T> climbed 2.5 percent to 455 yen.
Otherwise, scattered tech shares climbed, with TDK Corp
<6762.T> up 2 percent to 4,510 yen and Advantest Corp <6857.T> up
1.3 percent to 1,818 yen.
Fast Retailing <9983.T> rose 2.1 percent to 11,820 yen after
saying on Tuesday that same-store sales at its Uniqlo casual
clothing chain in Japan jumped 18.3 percent year-on-year in May,
helped by strong sales of camisoles, polo shirts and other items.
But Takeda Pharmaceutical <4502.T> fell 1.3 percent to 3,840
yen after the Nikkei business daily said the drugmaker would
suspend share buybacks and skip a dividend hike to save cash.
Trading was subdued on the Tokyo exchange's first section,
with 976 million shares changing hands compared to last week's
morning average of 1 billion.
Advancing shares outnumbered declining ones 902 to 631.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Joseph Radford)
