* Nikkei edges up, helped by strong Intel results
* Nikkei's gains capped as yen still near 15-year high
* Elliott Wave shows Nikkei may test 10,000 if 9,311 held
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose nearly 1 percent on Wednesday as an advance in U.S. stocks and upbeat forecasts by Intel Corp brightened sentiment and prompted short-covering.
Still, investors were reluctant about chasing the Nikkei aggressively higher as the yen lurked near a 15-year high versus the dollar hit earlier this week.
The market mood improved after the Nikkei had lost more than 2 percent on Tuesday, with chip-related stocks advancing after shares of Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, rose on strong fourth-quarter sales and margins.
The Nikkei also received support after Japanese core machinery orders unexpectedly jumped 10 percent in August.
"Intel and surprisingly strong machinery orders were positive for stocks, but more than those factors, investors simply wanted to cover their overly sold positions from the previous day," said Takashi Ohba, a senior strategist at Okasan Securities.
The benchmark Nikkei closed the morning session up 0.9 percent, or 80.83 points, at 9,469.47.
The broader Topix rose 0.7 percent, or 5.60 points, to 830.20.
On Tuesday, the Nikkei fell 2.1 percent, its biggest daily loss in a month.
Intel's forecasts raised hopes that the technology sector could end 2010 on a strong note, pushing up chip-related shares.
Elpida Memory 0.6 percent to 891 yen, also buoyed after the Nikkei business daily reported the PC memory maker and Sharp Corp will co-develop a next-generation memory chip for commercialisation in 2013.
Chip-gear maker Tokyo Electron Ltd gained 2 percent to 4,580 yen and chip-tester maker Advantest Corp rose 0.2 percent to 1,678 yen.
Still, the Nikkei struggled to post strong gains due to the strength of the yen.
The dollar gained 0.2 percent to 81.89 yen, but was not far away from a 15-year low of 81.37 struck on Monday.
"The Nikkei edged higher, but it struggled to catch up with the U.S. market as the strength of the yen is continuing to weigh on Japanese shares," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
The Nikkei's topside was capped by the yen, but it was expected to be supported by positive technical signals.
The Nikkei faces strong support at the 38.2 percent retracement of its September-October rally and its 55-day moving average, both of which come in around 9,365.
Elliott Wave analysis shows the Nikkei could to 10,000 as long as it holds above 9,311. (Additional reporting by Reuters FX analyst Krishna Kumar in Sydney; Editing by Chris Gallagher)