(Updates prices as of 0156 GMT)

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

jumped more than 2% in the morning session on Friday, tracking

overnight gains on Wall Street, while traders also kept a wary

eye ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision later in the

day.

The tech-heavy Nikkei was up 2.05% at 37,915.87, as

of 0156 GMT, with chip-sector stocks rallying in line with U.S.

equities' upbeat moves overnight. Shares of chip-making

equipment giant Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) soared 5.8% on Friday.

A weaker yen also provided support to Japanese equities, as

it boosts the value of overseas revenues among the country's

many heavyweight exporters. Toyota Motor ( TM ) advanced 1.5%

and Honda ( HMC ) jumped 2.8%.

The broader Topix index gained 1.49%.

U.S. stock indexes climbed to record highs on Thursday,

a day after the Federal Reserve delivered an outsized interest

rate cut, saying the U.S. economy remained strong and expressing

greater confidence inflation was under control.

The BOJ is widely expected to keep monetary policy

steady on Friday, while signalling confidence in its ability to

keep raising rates in coming months.

"Worries about the U.S. economy are receding,"

supporting equities broadly and tech stocks in particular, after

they had "sold off too much," said Kazuo Kamitami, a strategist

at Nomura Securities.

No change in BOJ policy is the "main scenario," but

"what happens to the exchange rate will be watched very

closely," Kamitani added.

The yen was changing hands at 142.38 per dollar

, after retreating steadily from a 14-month peak of

139.58 reached on Monday.

The time of the BOJ announcement is not set, but

typically comes around 0300-0430 GMT. Stocks are in the midday

recess from 0230-0330 GMT.

BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is due to brief media at 0630

GMT, after the market close.

Investors may be extra cautious ahead of a long weekend,

with Japan shut for a national holiday on Monday.

Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 193 rose, 31 fell and one

was trading flat.