(Updates stock prices, adds analyst comment and details)

By Satoshi Sugiyama

TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose sharply

on Thursday in broad-based buying, as the market tried to

stabilise after a three-session losing streak sparked by the

Middle East war, with sentiment also bolstered by Wall Street's

overnight gains.

The Nikkei 225 Index was up 2.6% at 55,666.2, as of

0222 GMT, after surging as much as 4.4% earlier in the day. The

broader Topix was 2.5% higher at 3,724.19 after rallying

nearly 4% earlier.

The Nikkei fell to a one-month low on Wednesday, as part of

a broader selloff in Asian equities and shedding 7.8% over the

three sessions to that day, with investors selling risk assets

amid the Middle East conflict and booking profits after record

highs.

"Japanese shares had been falling fairly sharply... but

looking at things like the U.S. stock market the day before and

the oil market, it seems to have regained its composure for the

moment," said Shuutaro Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo

Intelligence Laboratory.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight, after a report that

Iran had signalled openness to talks and a pledge by President

Donald Trump to steady oil markets calmed investor anxiety about

the Mideast clash.

Semiconductor-related heavyweights rose sharply on Thursday,

with chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ) gaining 5%

and chip-making machinery manufacturer Tokyo Electron ( TOELF )

up 4%. SoftBank Group, a technology and investment

conglomerate, climbed 5.3%.

All 33 industry indexes under the Tokyo bourse advanced, led

by a 5% gain in the banking sector. The oil sector,

including Japan's biggest refiner Eneos Holdings ( JXHGF ),

advanced 2.8%.

Shin-Etsu Chemical ( SHECF ) shares were up 5.5% after rising

as much as 8.3% earlier after the Nikkei newspaper reported that

the chemical maker would invest $3.4 billion in the United

States to expand production of feedstocks used for vinyl

chloride resin used in housing pipes.

There were 202 advancers on the Nikkei index and 23

decliners.

(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Rashmi Aich and

Subhranshu Sahu)