TOKYO, May 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

rose on Tuesday, with a pause in the yen's rally supporting

automakers and other exporters, while resilience on Wall Street

despite the U.S. sovereign downgrade buoyed overall sentiment.

At the same time, uncertainty at the start of the three-day

Group of Seven meetings of finance ministers and central bank

chiefs in Canada later in the day makes it "difficult for

traders to move," said Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura.

Finance ministers will strive for unity on non-tariff issues

at the gathering, but may have trouble reaching consensus with a

Trump administration intent on pushing allies to serve U.S.

interests.

The Nikkei rose 0.6% as of 0148 GMT, while the

broader Topix added 0.3%.

Investors worry that U.S. officials may push for a weaker

dollar as part of tariff negotiations.

Trade tensions with China are also far from resolved, in

spite of a recent rapprochement.

"This is not an environment where we can be complacent about

the Sino-U.S. trade relationship," said Nomura's Sawada.

"Developments are likely to continue to swing stock

markets."

Automakers were among the top performers as some weakening

of the yen boosted the value of overseas revenues. Toyota ( TM )

added 1.2% and Mazda ( MZDAF ) jumped 5%.

As a sector, car manufacturers and suppliers

gained 1.4% to be the second-best performer among the Tokyo

Stock Exchange's industry groups. Non-ferrous metals

was the top gainer with a 2.1% advance.

Sony ( SONY ) gained 3.2%.

The yen strengthened as far as 144.665 per dollar

on Monday, extending a rally that began a week ago when the

currency was at 148.455, but has since stabilized.

Strength in chip-related shares was another factor pulling

the Nikkei higher, with Advantest ( ADTTF ) gaining 2.8% and

Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) advancing 1.8%.