TOKYO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

got off to a strong start in early trade on Friday, tracking

Wall Street higher as an increase in U.S. retail sales soothed

fears of a recession in the world's largest economy and top

Japanese trading partner.

The Nikkei was up 2.5% at 37,639.99 as of 0009 GMT,

while the broader Topix rose 2.3%.

Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Thursday after

U.S. retail sales for July increased 1% following a downwardly

revised 0.2% drop in June, easing fears of a sharp economic

slowdown fanned by a jump in the unemployment rate last week.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index finished up

nearly 5% to give Japanese chip-related shares a boost on

Friday.