* Exporters lead gains, steelmakers climb on upgrades
* Gains seen tame before earnings by firms such as Intel
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.4 percent on Tuesday, helped higher by exporters such as Advantest Corp after the S&P 500 managed a sixth consecutive day of gains, while steelmakers climbed on a brokerage ratings hike.
Pioneer Corp shot up 7.3 percent after Citigroup Global Markets Japan upgraded it to "hold" from "sell", citing the share price's fall of 30 percent from a recent high as well as progress in restructuring.
But gains were limited in the overall market as investors waited to see corporate earnings reports in the United States and Japan, market players said. Major companies including Intel Corp are due to report earnings later in the day.
"Advances are due to a solid performance in overseas stock markets during our long weekend and a halt in the yen's advance against the dollar," said Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Cosmo Securities.
"When Intel reports earnings, its outlook will likely be particularly in focus. If chip makers were to say they expect demand to increase, that would mean the economy is on the mend."
In light trade, the Nikkei added 38.76 points by midsession to 10,055.15, after climbing 1.9 percent on Friday to its highest finish in a week.
The broader Topix gained 0.4 percent to 901.10.
Japanese markets were closed on Monday for a national holiday.
The yen was steady around 89.85 yen to the dollar. Many Japanese exporters have set their exchange rate assumptions for the dollar at around 90-95 yen for the financial year to March.
The S&P 500 managed a sixth consecutive day of gains on Monday to end at its closing high for the year as energy shares rose along with the price of oil.
"On the whole, investors are being optimistic about the upcoming corporate earnings season," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
"The market is rather at a place where stock prices could peak if companies report earnings that fall short of expectations or because positive earnings have been already factored in."
STEEL MAKERS STRONG
Advantest, a chip-tester maker, climbed 2.3 percent to 2,430 yen and electronics components maker TDK Corp added 2.5 percent to 5,290 yen. Honda Motor Co advanced 2 percent to 2,805 yen.
Tokyo Electron rose 1.1 percent to 5,770 yen after the company said quarterly orders for its tools to make semiconductors and flat panel displays recovered to near year-earlier levels as logic and memory-chip makers start investing.
JFE Holdings and other steel shares climbed after Goldman Sachs hiked its ratings on the companies as well as upgraded its coverage views on the steel sector in Asia to "attractive" from "neutral", saying demand for steel is likely to rise in 2010.
JFE Holdings jumped 6.1 percent to 3,310 yen, while Nippon Steel gained 6.2 percent to 358 yen and Kobe Steel added 4.9 percent to 171 yen.
The iron and steel subindex rose 4.9 percent to become the biggest gainer among the subindexes.
Shares of Pioneer surged to 235 yen.
Among other notable stocks, Japan Airport Terminal Co soared 10.4 percent to 1,186 yen after Transport Minister Seiji Maehara reportedly indicated that he wanted to turn Tokyo's mostly domestic Haneda airport into a hub for international flights.
Japan Airport Terminal owns the Haneda airport terminal building.
Some 856 million shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, below last week's morning average of 980 million.
Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones 961 to 570. (Editing by Michael Watson)