TOKYO, April 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average advanced on Monday but struggled to extend its gains as uncertainty over Japan's economic outlook and a prolonged nuclear safety crisis curbed enthusiasm over a weaker yen and a rise in U.S. shares after strong payrolls data.
The Nikkei peaked at a session high of 9,808.60, lifted by export- and resource-related shares, but shied away from a two-week high of 9,822.06 reached on Friday and the 200-day moving average also seen near Friday's high.
"Firmness in U.S. shares and the weakness of the yen, especially against the euro, encouraged buying in the export-related sector," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.
"But the Nikkei may face difficulties extending gains beyond 10,000 as the market is still not fully sure about the full impact of the earthquake on the real economy. The market wants to see more economic data before taking more positions."
The benchmark Nikkei was up 0.9 percent, or 91.20 points, at 9,799.59 in mid-morning trade.
The broader Topix advanced 0.6 percent to 867.43.
The market showed little reaction to data on post-earthquake business sentiment among Japanese manufacturers in the Bank of Japan's latest tankan survey.
Big Japanese manufacturers expect business conditions to worsen in the next three months, responses to a BOJ survey collected after the devastating March 11 earthquake showed, as rolling power blackouts and a nuclear safety crisis threaten to delay the country's return to a moderate economic recovery. [ID:nL3E7F4006]
"I don't think the market reacted too much to the tankan data as it's too early to examine the real impact. We need to wait a little more to get a better picture," Akino said.
Shares in Tokyo Electric Power dropped 0.7 percent to 446 yen, weighed down by due uncertainty over the situation at its crippled Daiichi Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The Japanese government warned on Sunday that it could take months to stop radiation leaking from the plant. [ID:nL3E7F3092]
Shares in Fast Retailing jumped 5.2 percent to 11,250 yen after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral" despite weak March sales at its Uniqlo chain, saying the effects on the firm of the March 11 earthquake were temporary and the post-quake decline presented a good mid- to long-term opportunity to buy. (Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Edmund Klamann)