* April Nikkei options seen settling at 9,612.51
* Fast Retailing surges after raising outlook, boosts Nikkei
By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average rose on Friday after April options prices settled higher than expected, offsetting the impact of a major earthquake which rocked northeast Japan the night before.
The market was also boosted by Fast Retailing , with almost a 5 percent weighting in the market, which rose 6.3 percent to 11,830 yen in heavy trade after the operator of the Uniqlo casual-clothing chain raised its annual outlook.[ID:nL3E7F801W]
The quake's impact was seen limited as it did not trigger a tsunami and there was no further damage to the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima. [ID:nL3E7F72Y2]
Nikkei options contracts expiring in April likely settled at 9,612.51, Tokyo market participants said on Friday, citing estimates by local brokerages.
The closely watched settlement price, known in Japan as the special quotation or "SQ", is calculated from the opening prices of the 225 shares on the Nikkei average on the second Friday of the month.
"We saw a huge rebound after the earthquake, and the quake happened on the day of the last month's SQ and I'm sure people have already taken positions for April and there were many market players who needed to get the SQ price above 9,500," said Sunil Sadhwani, CEO of Hamabay Capital LLC.
"Once the SQ price was confirmed, we saw the market go back up to 9,600. What's going to be really interesting is to see if 9,612 will become resistance, or if the market can clear this level today and it will become its support area."
Sadhwani added he was looking at the 9,300-9,200 level as an "absolute bottom" and said that if the benchmark index was to fall below that line, another free-fall would be triggered.
By late morning trade the benchmark Nikkei index was 0.6 percent higher at 9,649.52, while the broader Topix index was up 0.4 percent.
The magnitude 7.4 quake was an aftershock to the 9.0-magnitude March 11 quake that devastated northeastern Japan and knocked out the Fukushima plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co . [ID:nL3E7F72Y2]
Tokyo Electric, whose shares for the first time since the quake were not the most actively traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board by turnover, gaining 7.4 percent to 365 yen.
The utility said there was no further damage to the Fukushima plant from the aftershock as it continues struggling to contain radiation leaks.
GS Yuasa Corp jumped 5.5 percent to 558 yen after the Nikkei business daily said it plans to supply lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles to French automaker PSA Peugeot Citroen SA. [ID:nL3E7F801W]
Separately, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it will delay a plan to extend trading hours from May 9 to reduce power consumption as Japan seeks to cut electricity use in Tokyo and northern prefectures ahead of peak summer demand. [ID:nTKU000131] (Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Edmund Klamann)