Nikkei rises to 3-week high as Greece, oil worries ease

* Greece news may only have temporary effect -analyst

* Nikkei unlikely to break 9,800 in next few weeks-analysts

* Some signs of investors' appetite in large-cap shares


TOKYO, June 24 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average rose to a
three-week closing high on Friday, helped by news that Greece
has agreed to a five-year austerity plan and as a fall in oil
prices eased worries about a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

There was buying in large-cap shares, market players said,
adding that it could be a sign of new long positions although
some doubt the Nikkei can break above 9,800 in the near future,
as gains have been capped around that level since early May.

"There's a feeling that the impact of negative factors which
have hurt global shares is petering out. It may take a little
while before U.S. data shows improvement but I think the market
has put the worst behind it," said Hisashi Kuroda, general
manager of equity investments at Meiji Yasuda Asset Management.

European Union leaders promised more money to help
Greece stave off looming bankruptcy, and although Athens still
faces many hurdles, including a parliamentary vote on the
austerity measures next week, the news did ease investor
nervousness.

"The market is riding a rebound in global shares after the
Greece news. There appears to be fresh buying from investors
too. Some shares such as Sony have fallen enough to
lure bargain-hunting," said Toshiyuki Kanayama, a market analyst
at Monex Securities.

The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.9 percent to
9,678.71, its highest close since June 1. Strong resistance is
seen at its 200-day moving average of 9,850.

The broader Topix index also gained 0.9 percent, to
833.20.

The Nikkei's gains were slightly smaller than its peers in
Asia, with the MSCI ex-Japan Asia-Pacific index
rising 1.1 percent. But since the beginning of June, the Nikkei
is down 0.2 percent, compared to a fall of 4.7 percent in the
ex-Japan index.

A fall in oil prices to four-month lows after a release of
emergency oil reserves by major economies is expected to help
the U.S. economy as high gasoline prices have been hurting
consumers.

That slide in oil prices boosted shares of shipping firms
with Mitsui O.S.K. rising 3.2 percent to 417 yen.

Sony Corp gained 2.4 percent, snapping six weeks of
losses for a weekly gain of 4.5 percent. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan
Stanley Securities raised its rating to "outperform" from
"neutral", citing its efforts to cut procurement costs.

Electronics conglomerate Toshiba jumped 4.9 percent
after a similar upgrade to "outperform" from "neutral" by
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley analyst Masahiko Ishino.

Mass production of 19-nanometre NAND flash memory, new chip
capacity expansion, and nuclear power and thermal power
operations will drive its earnings, he said.

Trade volume was 1.76 billion shares, in line with the
recent daily average. Advancers outnumbered decliners by 1,144
to 406. (Reuters)