* Nikkei up 0.5 pct by midmorning
* Hi-tech shares lifted by Apple's strong earnings
* Resource stocks rally on commodities advances
By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, April 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei climbed for a second straight session on Thursday, helped by robust U.S. earnings including expectation-smashing results from Apple Inc .
The upward move, however, was limited with volumes staying thin as investors are reluctant to make big bets before Canon Inc and construction machinery maker Komatsu Ltd report next week.
Apple's results, which has been under scrutiny for clues about how severely Japan's March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis were affecting global supply chains, follow strong forecasts from Intel Corp .
Adding to the positive sentiment, top manufacturers United Technologies Corp and Eaton Corp raised their full-year earnings forecasts, saying that they were becoming more confident in the U.S. economy's direction.
"The market is looking for clues about the damage from the quake in U.S. earnings, but it's hard to draw any conclusions as both Apple and Intel have very diversified supply chains," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
Ogawa added that the market will probably move in line with Wall Street for the rest of the week, but could turn volatile once Japanese companies report.
He said he will focus on energy-related companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy , which is involved in gas turbine business, that can benefit from possible changes to Japan's energy policy after the nuclear crisis is resolved.
By midmorning the benchmark Nikkei average rose 0.5 percent to 9,654.21, while the broader Topix gained 0.2 percent to 838.80.
Tokyo stocks have recouped about two-thirds of their losses from the immediate aftermath of the devastating March 11 earthquake, but trade has turned more volatile and thinned out ahead of earnings reports.
Shares of manufacturers that had underperformed since the quake such as high-tech and precision machinery makers posted strong gains, with Kyocera Corp gaining 1.6 percent to 8,510 yen and camera maker Nikon Corp gaining 1.5 percent to 1,661 yen.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 0.8 percent to 377 yen, underperforming the overall market after sources said a Japanese securities joint venture of the banking group and Morgan Stanley will book a net loss of about 140 billion yen ($1.7 billion) for the year ended in March due mainly to massive bond trading losses.
The company is also planning to raise 30 billion yen ($363 million) to shore up its capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said. [ID:nL3E7FK344]
Trading houses, miners and other commodity shares continued to shine, with Japan's biggest gas and oil developer Inpex Corp up 3.3 percent after Brent oil jumped 2 percent to near $124 a barrel on Wednesday.
Boosted by positive reports also from F5 Networks Inc and United Technologies, the Nasdaq posted its largest daily percentage gain since October while the Dow hit its highest close since early June 2008.
Trading house Itochu gained 1.6 percent to 818 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that it will take a 25 percent stake in an investment unit belonging to China's Citic Group, opening up opportunities in consumer finance services and matchmaking deals. (Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa)