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

rose on Tuesday as sentiment improved after oil prices fell

overnight, but losses of chip-related stocks capped gains.

The Nikkei rose 0.49% to 54,013.03 as of 0124 GMT,

after rising as much as 1.2% earlier in the session. The index

is on course to snap a three-session decline if the momentum

holds.

The broader Topix was up 1.18% at 3,653.43.

"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.

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

announced new components at the chipmaker's annual developer

conference.

"But the CEO's comments might not have been fully digested

in the market," he added.

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

supplier to Nvidia ( NVDA ), fell 1.7% to weigh the most on the Nikkei.

Technology investor SoftBank Group lost 0.75%.

The Nikkei trimmed early gains as oil prices reversed some

of the previous session's losses in early trade.

"The Nikkei moves inversely to oil prices these days,"

Shimada said.

Value stocks, which are affected by the ongoing Middle East

conflict, rose, with the shipping sector jumping 6.1%

to become the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's

(TSE) 33 industry sub-indexes.

Kawasaki Kisen and Nippon Yusen jumped

8.54% and 7.61%, respectively, to become the Nikkei's top

percentage gainers.

The mining sector rose 3.5% and the refiners

gained 2.46%.

Other value stocks rose, with trading house Mitsui & Co ( MITSF )

gaining 5.29% to become the largest contributor to the

Topix's gain.

The Topix's value shares index rose 1.4%,

outperforming the growth shares index's 0.86% gain.