* Nikkei up 0.3 pct
* Banks gain on upbeat results from JPMorgan
* Commodities prices lift shares of miners, trading houses
By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average bounced back towards eight-month highs on Monday after stronger-than-expected earnings from JPMorgan helped financial stocks, with higher oil prices also lifting energy-related shares.
That helped soften the negative impact of China's latest move to tighten credit, reports showing weak U.S. December retail sales and consumer sentiment hurt by higher gasoline prices.
"The market is recouping losses made last week and sentiment has been brightened by financials gaining on a strong start to the U.S. earnings season," said Yumi Nishimura, a senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.
"There's no change in investor appetite for Japanese equities but gains will be limited today ahead of a U.S. market holiday and as traders wait for some more factors to trade on," she said.
By midmorning the benchmark Nikkei was up 0.3 percent or 35.67 points at 10,535.11. On Friday it fell 0.9 percent after a surprisingly weak settlement of options for January.
The Nikkei has climbed some 3 percent this year and is up 15 percent since the start of November -- a rally driven by foreign funds, which have boosted their stance on Japanese stocks to neutral from underweight.
The broader Topix index climbed 0.4 percent to 933.75.
Results from Apple, due on Tuesday, are a key focus for the market this week.
Resistance for the Nikkei looms at 10,620.57, an eight-month high hit last week. If that level is breached, the next target investors are eyeing is 10,638.23, a high hit in May last year.
Among banks, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 0.8 percent to 3,040 yen.
Higher prices of commodities, with brent crude rising above $99 a barrel on Friday, helped shares of trading houses and other oil-related companies. Inpex Corp., Japan's top oil and gas developer, gained 1.3 percent to 493,500 yen.
The mining sector outperformed the broader market, gaining over 1 percent after U.S. copper surged to near record levels on an improved U.S. economic outlook.
In early Asian trade the yen was weaker against the dollar bolstering exporters. Sony Corp gained 0.7 percent and Sharp Corp added 0.8 percent. (Editing by Edwina Gibbs)