(Updates with closing prices)

By Junko Fujita

TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

fell for a third session on Tuesday as investors adjusted their

portfolios and corporates avoided buybacks as the first half of

the nation's fiscal year drew to a close.

The Nikkei fell 0.25% to 44,932.63, but the broader

Topix rose 0.19% to 3,137.6 as big bank shares rose.

"Investors sold technology stocks, which are the

Nikkei's heavyweights, to book profits," said Naoki Fujiwara,

senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ) fell

3.27% to become the biggest percentage loser on the Nikkei.

Technology start-up investor SoftBank Group lost 1.86%.

"Today's decline (of the Nikkei) does not mean the

market sentiment has weakened," said Shoichi Arisawa, general

manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo

Securities.

This kind of adjustment associated with the end of the first

half of the fiscal year may continue in the next sesssion, he

said.

The market was also dragged lower as companies aovided

buybacks at the end of the first half of fiscal year, he added.

Bank shares rose after the Bank of Japan's hawkish

message raised bets for an early interest rate hike. Mitsubishi

UFJ Financial Group ( MUFG ) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group ( SMFG )

gained 2.88% and 1.73%, respectively.

BOJ board members debated the feasibility of raising

interest rates in the near term, with some suggesting the time

for such a move may be approaching, a summary of opinions at the

central bank's September policy meeting showed on Tuesday.

Of more than 1,600 stocks trading on the Tokyo Stock

Exchange's prime section, 32% rose and 64% fell, and 3% traded

flat.