TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.4 percent to an eight-week closing high on Monday, boosted by gains in high-tech exporters such as Advantest Corp (6857.T) after rises in U.S. rivals late last week, with additional help coming from a weaker yen. Banks such as Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) slid, giving up some of the hefty gains they made last week, as worries that they are likely to issue new stocks to enhance capital linger, driving the broader Topix index slightly lower. The number of institutional investors and overseas players in the market was falling and retail investors chased consumer-linked shares such as Fast Retailing (9983.T), operator of budget fashion chain Uniqlo. "The market is up, reflecting gains in exporters on a weaker yen, but overall trade remains slow as foreign investors, who are the main players in the market, are inactive due to the Christmas holiday," said Masaru Hamasaki, a senior strategist at Toyota Asset Management. "Still, I expect the Nikkei to end the year a bit higher than current levels, say at around 10,400-500, as the dollar's appreciation will likely continue and that will probably push up exporters even further." In thin trade, the Nikkei .N225 climbed 41.42 points to 10,183.47, its highest finish since October 27, while the Topix edged down 0.2 percent to 891.48. U.S. stocks rose on Friday as quarterly results from Oracle (ORCL.O) and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM.O) (RIM.TO) lifted the Nasdaq more than 1 percent, but the dollar's climb curbed gains in both the Dow and the S&P 500. .N The dollar was steady against the yen in Asian trade, staying above the 90 yen level, as investors who sold the U.S. currency for most of this year were buying back before the year-end. "Investors are waiting for data due later this week, including a domestic labor report and U.S. personal incomes," said Hajime Nakajima, deputy general manager at Cosmo Securities. "The market's focal point is whether Santa Claus will bring us favorable economic figures." TECH STOCKS GAIN, BANKS WEIGH Among high-tech shares, Tokyo Electron Ltd (8035.T), the world's No.2 semiconductor equipment maker, climbed 2.6 percent to 5,520 yen and chip-tester maker Advantest gained 2.1 percent to 2,235 yen. Sony Corp (6758.T) rose 1.2 percent to 2,580 yen. A fall in the yen tends to help exporters' shares as it increases the value of overseas profits in yen terms when firms repatriate them to Japan. But many banking shares fell as jitters over financing returned after the Basel Committee of bank regulators said on Thursday it still wants the changes to take effect by 2012 and that the definition of acceptable capital would be narrowed. Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's second-biggest bank, shed 2.2 percent to 175 yen, while Shinsei Bank Ltd (8303.T) lost 2.7 percent to 109 yen. But Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) gained 2.4 percent to 473 yen as Japan's top lender raised up to 1.03 trillion yen ($11.4 billion) to help meet stricter global capital requirements earlier this month. Among other notable stocks, Nishimatsuya Chain Co (7545.T) jumped 8.5 percent to 813 yen after the children's apparel retailer said it would buy back shares worth up to 200 million yen ($2.2 million). Other consumer-linked shares rose on demand from retail investors. Fast Retailing climbed 2.6 percent to 16,040 yen to become the top positive contributor to the Nikkei 225. Department store operator Takashimaya Co Ltd (8233.T) rose 2.1 percent to 572 yen after UBS Securities upgraded it to "neutral," citing a fall in the firm's share price. Japan Tobacco (2914.T) slipped 1 percent to 292,600 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported that a Japanese government tax panel is considering raising the tobacco tax by about 2 yen per cigarette. Some 1.6 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, below last week's daily average of 2.1 billion. Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones 947 to 594. (Additional reporting by Rika Otsuka; Editing by Michael Watson)

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