(Updates for market close)

By Brigid Riley

TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

nudged higher after volatile trade on Wednesday, even as

concerns over a potential trade war following U.S. tariffs and

its impact on the global economy stifled risk appetite.

The Nikkei closed 0.2% higher at 37,418.24, while

the broader Topix was up 0.3% at 2,718.21.

The Nikkei briefly gained as much as 0.7% after U.S.

President Donald Trump's first address to Congress since his

return to the White House.

The market perceived little in the way of fresh bad news,

said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo

Mitsui DS Asset Management, although gains narrowed in the

afternoon as attention returned to tariff uncertainties.

"Tariffs like those that have already been announced will

probably continue to come, so a sense of caution remains," he

said.

Ichikawa said that it will likely be difficult to

aggressively buy Japanese equities until the United States'

tariff policy stance becomes clearer.

Market players were still holding out hope that tariff pains

might be mitigated after U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick

told Fox Business that Trump will reach a middle ground with

Canada and Mexico on tariffs.

Automakers made a strong comeback as the yen weakened

slightly after reaching a three-month high against the dollar in

the previous session. Toyota Motor ( TM ) ended up 3.5% and

Honda Motor ( HMC ) added 2.1%.

Among other shares, Uniqlo parent firm Fast Retailing ( FRCOF )

climbed 1.7% to give the Nikkei the biggest lift, and

Fujikura ( FKURF ), which makes cables for data centres, rallied

7.4% to become the top percentage gainer on the index.

Technology shares were mixed, with chip-testing equipment

maker Advantest ( ADTTF ), an Nvidia ( NVDA ) supplier, erasing

gains to finish down 0.3%, while AI-focused startup investor

SoftBank Group rose 0.8%. Shares of Tokyo Electron ( TOELF )

slid nearly 2%.