* Japan crisis will keep driving trading
* S&P 500 back in black for year
* Dow up 1.3 pct, S&P up 1.3 pct, Nasdaq up 1 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Changes byline; updates to late afternoon trade)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street rebounded on Thursday after three days of declines, but investors were not convinced that the advance would last as concerns about Japan's nuclear crisis persisted.
All three major U.S. stock indexes recovered from Wednesday's lows, which had put both the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq in negative territory for the year.
The S&P 500 climbed back into the black for 2011 with Thursday's gain. But the Nasdaq could not hold on to its morning move back into positive territory. By early afternoon, the Nasdaq was negative again for the year.
But while the day's bounce relieved some worries about the market's recent slide, it did not change the view that a correction is under way.
"As the headlines come out of Japan, there are more nervous traders liquidating their long positions in futures put on this morning," said Steve Leuer, stock-index futures trader at X-FA Trading firm in Chicago.
From a chart standpoint, "I don't see anything right now that suggests that the near-term decline is over," said Chris Burba, short-term market technician at Standard & Poor's in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 148.08 points, or 1.28 percent, at 11,761.38. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 15.77 points, or 1.25 percent, at 1,272.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 25.72 points, or 0.98 percent, at 2,642.54.
The recent declines followed a rally of nearly six months in stocks. That rally in itself has prompted calls for a market correction.
The CBOE Volatility Index VIX <.VIX>, Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 9.1 percent to 26.74 as stocks rose, but it was still at a high level, compared with the recent average of about 20.
On Thursday, natural resource stocks helped lead the market
as commodity prices rebounded. Tensions in the Middle East and
North Africa drove oil prices up sharply. Brent crude for May
delivery
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc
The S&P energy index <.GSPE> shot up 2.7 percent, leading gains in the S&P 500, even though the prospect of higher fuel costs in general have hurt stock investor enthusiasm in recent weeks.
A correction at this point could be short-lived, some analysis suggests.
Cleveland Rueckert, an analyst at Birinyi Associates Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a note: "Since 1945, 5 percent declines that occur during a broader rally last an average of 41 days and decline 8.29 percent.
"If the averages hold, the S&P 500 will bottom at 1,232" on March 31, Rueckert wrote.
Economic bellwether FedEx Corp