* Nikkei gains but strong yen trend weighing
* Reports of Takefuji bankruptcy prep hit consumer lenders
* Takefuji impact mainly limited to sector - analyst
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.2 percent on Monday, buoyed by exporters after Wall Street jumped on a rebound in U.S. business spending, but gains were capped by the yen's continued strength.
Shares of consumer lenders plunged after media said struggling Takefuji Corp is making final preparations to file for bankruptcy protection from creditors, crippled by the reimbursement of overcharged interest.
But market players, noting that the industry has been struggling for some time, said the news would not raise broader fears of financial instability or seriously affect the Nikkei.
"There's definitely a big impact on the sector but otherwise, the sector's issues have been mainly factored in by the broader market," said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy division at Marusan Securities.
"Wall Street's rise has provided a bit of a boost but gains on the U.S. data are mainly because the figures weren't quite as bad as expected, not that they were really good. So gains on this alone will be limited."
U.S. durable goods orders for August rose 2 percent excluding transportation, after sliding 2.8 percent in July, but a decline in aircraft and motor vehicle bookings depressed overall orders 1.3 percent.
A gauge of business spending plans, though, rebounded 4.1 percent after falling 5.3 percent in July, enough to push all major indexes up roughly 2 percent or more.
But market players were sceptical about the strength of the rebound, noting that trade in New York was thin on Friday and that much of the rise appeared to be short-covering after losses earlier in the week.
"Wall Street in general appears to have been rising almost too fast, and there's some concern about whether this will continue into October," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager at Chibagin Asset Management.
The benchmark Nikkei rose 104.53 points to 9,582.63 by midmorning, set for its biggest monthly gain since March with a rise of some 8.5 percent. But it is up only some 2 percent on the quarter.
The broader Topix rose 0.6 percent to 843.86.
CONSUMER LENDERS TUMBLE
The dollar edged up against the yen to 84.31 yen after hitting on Friday its lowest in more than a week against the yen despite talk Japan had tried again to intervene to weaken the currency.
Consumer lenders tanked after the reports emerged about Takefuji, with Tokyo Shoko Research saying that the company has $5.2 billion in liabilites as of the end of June.
An official in Takefuji's finance division said the company was checking on the media reports and declined to comment further.
Analysts have warned that Takefuji could struggle to survive given that it does not have the financial backing of a major bank like competitors Acom Co and Promise Co.
Acom lost 11 percent to 1,329 yen and fellow consumer lender Aiful plunged 20 percent to 92 yen. Trade in Takefuji shares was suspended by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
But exporters climbed broadly, boosted by the Wall Street rise, with Canon inc gaining 2.4 percent to 3,885 yen and Honda Motor Co up 2.2 percent at 2,997 yen.
Mitsui & Co and other commodities-linked firms rose after metals gained broadly on Friday, when oil rose strongly as well.
Mitsui & Co gained 2.6 percent to 1,238 yen and Mitsubishi Corp rose 2.5 percent to 1,962 yen.