TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

erased early gains to close down on Tuesday, dragged lower by

losses in chip-related shares and a jump in oil prices.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.1% to close at

53,700.39, extending its decline to a fourth-straight day. The

broader Topix climbed 0.45% to 3,627.07.

The Nikkei jumped as much as 1.2% earlier in the session as

a slide in oil prices overnight prompted a recovery in investor

sentiment that has been battered by the ongoing Iran war. But

crude prices shot back up in Asian trading, and technology

shares remained weak following a presentation by artificial

intelligence bellwether Nvidia ( NVDA ).

"Investors sold chip-related stocks because there was no big

positive surprise from the remarks from Nvidia ( NVDA ) overnight," said

Kazuaki Shimada, chief strategist at IwaiCosmo Securities. "The

Nikkei moves inversely to oil prices these days."

Nvidia ( NVDA ) ended 1.6% higher after CEO Jensen Huang

announced new components at the chipmaker's annual developer

conference.

Advantest ( ADTTF ), a chip-testing equipment maker and

supplier to Nvidia ( NVDA ), fell 2.5% to weigh the most on the Nikkei.

Technology investor SoftBank Group lost 1.8%.

There were 166 advancers on the Nikkei index against 56

decliners. The largest percentage gainers were shipping company

Kawasaki Kisen, up 6.3%, followed by drugmaker Daiichi

Sankyo ( DSKYF ), which rose 5.9%.

The largest losers were suppliers to the tech sector,

including Furukawa Electric ( FUWAF ), down 6.7%, followed

by Sumitomo Electric Industries ( SMTOF ), down 6.2% and

Lasertec ( LSRCF ), which sank 5.2%.