By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average is set on Tuesday to recoup some of last week's 10 percent loss after reports of progress to contain radiation leaks at a quake-stricken nuclear power plant and joint intervention in the currency markets by the Group of Seven (G7) that helped to curb the yen's rise.
Sentiment will also get a boost from a solid showing on Wall Street on merger and acquisition activity and from comments by billionaire investor Warren Buffet that Japan represents a buying opportunity and will recover from the devastating earthquake and tsunami.
But looking at the medium term, gains will likely be hard-won as investors await earnings figures and forecasts in late April and early May for a better sense of how the triple disaster of an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident will affect individual companies.
"The situation at the nuclear plant has not been resolved but compared with Friday's close we can say things are moving in the right direction," said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex Inc.
"Japanese stocks have entered a long and winding recovery path and it will take a while before they reach this year's highs, but looking mid-term, we're again in a rising trend," Hiroki said.
Analysts said that, while many factories were still not fully operational, exporters' shares may benefit if the yen eases further, with many traders keen to see whether the Bank of Japan and its G7 partners continue to intervene this week.
Nikkei futures last traded in Chicago at 9,540, up 410 points from the last closing level in Osaka and a 333 point premium to the close of the underlying index .
The U.S.-listed shares of Japanese companies rose more than 2.1 percent on Monday.
U.S. shares rose after phone company AT&T unveiled a $39 billion deal to buy Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA, creating the biggest mobile operator in the United States.
Analysts said the Nikkei would likely trade between 9,500 and 9,650 on Tuesday. ----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT @ 2308 GMT ------------ INSTRUMENT LAST PCT CHG NET CHG S&P 500 1298.38 1.5% 19.180 USD/JPY 81.22 0.12% 0.100 10-YR US TSY YLD 3.3263 -- 0.000 SPOT GOLD 1426.5 0.10% 1.450 US CRUDE 102.35 0.02% 0.020 DOW JONES 12036.53 1.50% 178.01 ------------------------------------------------------------- > AT&T's big deal lifts Wall Street > Yen slips across the board on intervention nerves > Treasury traders not yet willing to take bold stand > Gold gains on dollar drop, oil rise, geopolitics > Oil lifted by Mideast unrest, Libya conflict
STOCKS TO WATCH:
-- Advantest Corp
Semiconductor testing company Verigy Ltd said a $908 million buyout offer it received from Japan's Advantest Corp was a better deal than the U.S. company's pending agreement to buy smaller rival LTX-Credence Corp .
--Honda Motor Corp
Honda's fully owned Indian bike unit expects to sell 2.1 million units in the fiscal year that starts in April and will spend 20 billion rupees ($444.3 million) to boost production and expand capacity, a company official said on Monday.
--Mizuho Bank
Mizuho may face disciplinary action from Japan's regulatory watchdog after a system-wide breakdown last week led to millions of Japanese being unable to access salary payments or use automatic teller machines, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. (Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Edmund Klamann)