* Nikkei edges above 9,800, but runs out of steam quickly
* Investors wary of big buys due to sluggish overseas markets
* Japan GDP neutral to stocks, traders worry about outlook
TOKYO, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.6 percent on Monday as a softer yen encouraged investors to buy on dips following the market's tumble in the previous session.
But traders said the Nikkei was unlikely to put on big gains after a fall on Wall Street and with investors looking to the open of Shanghai and Hong Kong markets for direction.
"The Nikkei rose due to the yen's slight weakness. Ample liquidity is encouraging bargain-hunting," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"But we don't want to push the Nikkei too strongly from here as overseas markets are in a corrective selling phase. We need to closely watch how foreign markets behave."
The benchmark Nikkei was trading up 0.6 percent at 9,781.85 in mid-morning trade, following a decline of more than 1 percent on Friday. The Nikkei rose as high as 9,802.63 before running out of steam on profit-taking.
The broader Topix was up 0.2 percent at 848.72.
In Asian morning trade, the dollar was up 0.1 percent at 82.54 yen.
The market showed a muted reaction to data showing Japan's economy grew a bigger-than-expected 0.9 percent in July-September from the previous quarter.
"The GDP results were neutral to the market. The July- September results were stronger, but there are many uncertainties about the outlook," Miura said.
Wall Street ended a five-week winning steak on Friday as the chance of rising interest rates in China prompted investors to book profits and reassess bullish positions in equities. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi and Chikafumi Hodo)