(Updates prices, adds additional details, analyst comment)

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, April 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

extended early gains on Friday after the Bank of Japan (BOJ)

opted to leave interest rates unchanged, as widely expected, and

said accommodative monetary conditions are likely to continue

for the time being.

The Nikkei was up 0.7% at 37,890.48, as of 0400 GMT,

half an hour into the afternoon session, with the BOJ announcing

its decision during the recess. Japan's equity benchmark

finished the morning up 0.4%.

For the week, the index has added 2.2%, recouping part

of the previous week's 6.2% tumble, its worst weekly performance

since June 2022.

The broader Topix was up 0.7%, heading for a

2.1% advance for the week.

The BOJ maintained its short-term interest rate target at a

range of 0-0.1% in a unanimous vote, and issued fresh estimates

projecting inflation to stay near its 2% target in the next

three years.

At the same time, a much simplified statement format left

some market participants wondering whether there was

significance in the removal of a reference to buying Japanese

government bonds at a pace of about 6 trillion yen ($38.5

billion) per month.

BOG Governor Kazuo Ueda is due to give a news conference

at 0630 GMT.

Investors are wary of hawkish signals from the central

bank, potentially aimed at propping up the yen, which dipped to

a fresh 34-year low of 156.14 per dollar after the

BOJ's announcement.

"The market's initial take is of a dovish BOJ," said

Shoki Omori, chief Japan desk strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"However, they changed their statement format and (as a

result of that) it is very unclear what they will do in the

future."

Real estate vaulted to the top of the Nikkei's best

performing sectors on the outlook for extended low interest

rates, with Mitsui Fudosan ( MTSFF ) up 3.3%.

Tech continued to be a bright spot, tracking overnight

gains in U.S. peers, with the Philadephia SE Semiconductor Index

jumping nearly 2% even as Wall Street's three main

indexes declined.

The mood was brightened further by gains for U.S. stock

futures on Friday following strong after-the-bell

earnings from tech giants Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT )

.

Chip-making equipment giant Tokyo Electron ( TOELF )

climbed 2.1% and startup-investor SoftBank Group gained

2.3%.

Shin-Etsu Chemical ( SHECF ) bucked the trend among

semiconductor stocks, with the silicon producer diving more than

6% after announcing it would offer a hefty premium in a takeover

offer for Mimasu Semiconductor Industry ( MSMCF ).

($1 = 156.0600 yen)