TOKYO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average clawed up 0.7 percent on Wednesday on window-dressing before the end of Japan's fiscal first half, but it pared earlier gains as the yen's retreat faded and resistance held strong.
An additional boost came from a poor December outlook in the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey of business sentiment, which some market players said could increase expectations the central bank will discuss further moves to ease monetary policy at its meeting next week.
The benchmark Nikkei ended up 63.62 points at 9,559.38, below resistance around 9,660 -- the upper level of its daily Ichimoku cloud.
The broader Topix gained 0.5 percent to 846.97. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)