Japan's Nikkei bounces off one-month low on softer yen, Wall Street rally

(Updates with closing prices)

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded on Monday from a one-month low touched last week, after the yen pulled back from a four-month peak and Wall Street rallied on rising bets of a soft landing for the U.S. economy.

The Nikkei finished the day 1.5% higher at 32,791.80, following a broad rally that saw 196 of the benchmark's 225 components rise versus 25 decliners and four that were flat.

The broader Topix rose 1.47%.

Monday's gains in the Nikkei came after the worst weekly performance since mid-September, which included a 3.4% slide over Thursday and Friday as the yen strengthened, cutting the value of exporters' overseas sales.

"The rally is extremely broad, (but) we can clearly see that a big part of it is a natural rebound from last week's steep declines," said Maki Sawada, a strategist at Nomura Securities.

"That is probably the biggest factor."

U.S. stocks - and particularly high tech shares - had rallied on Friday after robust monthly jobs data bolstered speculation the economy would avoid a recession.

Heavyweight chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron was the Nikkei's biggest support, adding 76 points with a 3.44% jump.

Exporters rose, with Nissan adding 2.53% and Sony climbing 1.92%.

The yen weakened to 145.615 per dollar on Monday, from as strong as 141.60 late last week.

"When the yen is strong, stocks have a tendency to fall mechanically," said Hideyuki Suzuki, general manager at investment research for SBI Securities.

"So today, when there is some correction of the yen's rapid appreciation, stocks are rising."

Energy shares outperformed following a rebound in crude oil prices, with a Tokyo Stock Exchange sub-index of the stocks gaining 3.22%.

The top gainer among the 33 TSE industry groups was the electric and gas utilities sub-index, which rallied 4.83%, led by a 14.63% surge in Tokyo Electric Power Co .

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Additional reporting by Mayu Sakoda; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)