* Nikkei recoups all of last week's losses
* Broad-based buying on hopes for U.S., global recovery
* Aug. 30 election eyed; investors take wait-and-see stance
* Trade thin, with turnover volume hitting lowest in a month
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average jumped 3.4 percent in thin trade on Monday, boosted by hopes for a global economic recovery that sent U.S. shares climbing, with Canon Inc and other exporters leading the benchmark higher.
Oil and gas field developer Inpex and other energy-linked shares advanced as oil prices steadied around $74 a barrel on Monday, keeping last week's gains of nearly 10 percent on optimism about a U.S. economic recovery.
The Dow rose to its highest level in nine months on Friday, boosted by a surprising rise in home sales and comments by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke that the global economy is emerging from a recession.
But market analysts said that despite the jump on Wall Street, investors remained cautious due to uncertainty about the Chinese stock market, whose drop in recent weeks had spooked investors globally, and Japan's general election on Aug. 30.
Underscoring a cautious mood in the market, turnover volume on the Tokyo exchange's first section hit its lowest level since July 28 at 1.3 trillion yen.
"Strong U.S. home sales figures are offsetting worries about the economic outlook that pushed down the U.S., Japanese and Chinese markets last week," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
"The focus now is whether the Nikkei can shift to the 10,500-11,000 range. But it may find it hard to do that this week because trading volume is thin and there's the election."
The benchmark Nikkei gained 342.85 points to 10,581.05, erasing a 3.4 percent decline it posted last week. It is now within sight of its 10-month high of 10,630.38 hit on Aug. 14.
The broader Topix rose 2.4 percent to 970.27.
Market analysts say many expect the opposition Democratic Party to win the Aug. 30 election but investors remain hesitant about actively take positions before they actually see the results.
Public opinion polls show the Democratic Party is likely to trounce the conservative Liberal Democratic Party that has ruled for most of the past half-century, with some saying it could win 300 seats in Japan's 480-seat lower chamber.
"I would say that most of the market expects an opposition victory, the question is by how much. Too large a victory -- say well over 300 seats -- might make some investors nervous," said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities.
"That's because some of the policies in the Democratic platform, such as pledging sharp cuts in greenhouse gases and ending hiring of temporary workers, raise fears about damage to Japanese competitiveness and can't necessarily be said to be good for business."
But others say a landslide victory by the Democrats will be the best scenario for the market as that would mean a strong, effective government.
EXPORTERS, OIL STOCKS JUMP
Exporters were some of the biggest winners after a surprising 7.2 percent jump in July sales of previously owned U.S. homes boosted investor confidence on Wall Street.
That was enhanced by comments by Bernanke, who said economic activity in the U.S. and abroad appears to be levelling out but also warned that growth would be sluggish.
Canon, the world's largest digital camera maker, shot up 6.3 percent to 3,720 yen.
The company ended at the day's high after the company told Reuters in an interview that it plans to restructure its microchip stepper division by December, a move aimed at helping it better compete with ASML and Nikon Corp.
Chip-tester maker Advantest Corp surged 6.9 percent to 2,415 yen and electronics parts maker Kyocera Corp climbed 5.2 percent to 7,700 yen.
Toyota Motor Corp climbed 2.3 percent to 4,070 yen, while Honda Motor Co advanced 3.2 percent to 3,050 yen.
The Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday that Honda plans to develop an electric car to debut in the U.S. market by around 2015 as tighter environmental regulations push demand for zero-emission vehicles.
Some analysts said carmakers were also getting a boost from short-covering after being beaten sharply lower in Friday trade, when they led the market lower.
Oil-linked shares rose. Inpex jumped 5.4 percent to 758,000 yen, while Nippon Mining Holdings climbed 2.5 percent to 491 yen and Nippon Oil advanced 2.3 percent to 542 yen.
Trading houses, which are major dealers in energy and have stakes in oil and gas projects, also gained.
Mitsubishi Corp gained 3.9 percent to 1,914 yen and Mitsui & Co rose 2.5 percent to 1,255 yen.
Shares of Yakult Honsha Co soared 9.8 percent to 2,295 yen after the Nikkei business daily said it could achieve a rise in operating profit this business year instead of the forecast 10 percent decline, helped by solid overseas sales of its fermented lactic drinks. (Additional reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Joseph Radford)