TOKYO, March 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is likely to be capped on Thursday as its rebound from a steep fall last week has run its course and investors are trying to assess the damage from a triple disaster of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.
With U.S. oil prices near a 2 1/2-year high, shares in trading houses and energy-related companies are likely to gain.
A rise in Wall Street shares is likely to provide some support for Japanese shares, but investors are likely to be cautious about chasing them higher as worries persist about economic disruption from radiation leaks.
"The report that radioactive substances were found in tap water in Tokyo has made people cautious," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.
"As the public is reacting to the news with relative calm, the market may take it in its stride but it is still susceptible to news like that."
Buying is seen limited after Tokyo stocks recovered more than 15 percent from their intraday low last week, when Tokyo had posted its biggest two-day decline since October 1987 as radiation leaks from a quake-stricken power plant caused panic among investors.
Nikkei futures last traded in Chicago 65 points above the latest close in Osaka .
The broader Topix index is close to its 200-day moving average at 871, and analysts said that immediate resistance level may prove hard to pierce as the market lacked strong trading cues.
Analysts said the Nikkei would likely trade between 9,350 and 9,500 on Thursday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2329 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1297.54 0.29% 3.770 USD/JPY 80.88 -0.1% -0.080 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3446 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1437.8 0.11% 1.600 US CRUDE 105.41 -0.32% -0.340 DOW JONES 12086.02 0.56% 67.39 ------------------------------------------------------------- > Materials lead Wall St higher but turmoil remains > Euro falls; Portugal parliament rejects austerity plan > Treasuries ease on stocks, but safety bid remains > Gold near record, silver tops $37 on safe-haven bids > US oil ends at 2-1/2-yr high on Mideast, gasoline
STOCKS TO WATCH:
--Toyota Motor Corp
Toyota said it would slow some U.S. production because of supply disruptions caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
--Tokyo Electric Power Co
The Japanese government is looking at paying off a portion of the compensation TEPCO will owe evacuated residents, local farmers and others directly hit by the emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
TEPCO also said on Wednesday it had changed its annual dividend payment forecast to "undecided" from 60 yen per share in its previous estimate following a massive earthquake and tsunami.
--SBI Holdings
Japanese online financial services firm SBI Holdings moved closer to a planned listing in Hong Kong, filing documents with the stock exchange in a bid to increase its profile in China and tap the country's large pool of investors. (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Edmund Klamann)