TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.5 percent on Monday, buoyed by a technical rebound after falling over 6 percent last week and by a massive stabilisation plan for the euro zone to keep Greece's fiscal woes from spreading. Toray jumped after signing a 15-year contract with Airbus to supply carbon fibre materials for the European firm's aircraft, while Softbank rose on news it would start selling Apple Inc's iPad tablet computer in Japan on May 28. The market took heart from news that European Union finance ministers had agreed an emergency loan package that with IMF support could reach 750 billion euro ($1 trillion) to prevent a sovereign debt crisis spreading through the euro zone. The European Central Bank also announced steps to contain Greece's debt crisis, saying it would buy euro zone government and private debt and abandoning resistance to full-scale bond purchases. Major global central banks also moved to support Europe, reestablishing dollar swap facilities used during the 2007-2008 financial crisis to help ease strain on financial markets and ensure there was enough liquidity to keep global credit markets from seizing up. Tokyo market players were optimistic but wary, noting that the Nikkei had been on the brink of oversold territory last week in the wake of a massive global stock slide and was due for a bounce anyway. They also cited persistent worries about deep-rooted debt problems in Europe. "The market welcomed a string of efforts to secure stability in liquidity," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets. "But profit-taking is keeping gains in check as the news had been gradually factored in and it's not as if the core problems have been sorted out yet." U.S. stock futures rose 2.9 percent, helping the benchmark Nikkei climb 149.84 points to 10,514.43. The broader Topix rose 1.1 percent to 942.22. Market players said that support was likely to solidify at the level of the Nikkei's 200-day moving average -- around 10,300 -- after the benchmark managed to close above it last week. The Nikkei's relative strength index (RSI) edged up slightly to 39 after falling to its lowest since November on Friday. Anything from 30 and below is regarded as oversold territory. Resistance is likely to hold for now at 10,600, the level of the Nikkei's 100-day moving average. "Investors now want to see how European and US stocks perform overnight. Caution also remains as reasons behind the abnormal slide in U.S. stocks last week still haven't been identified," Takahashi said. Eyes are on Wall Street this week with markets still jittery after Thursday's nearly 1,000-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, followed by a rebound that still left prices down for the day. In the latest development, the heads of leading U.S. stock market operators have been called to Washington for an emergency meeting on Monday, days after the spine-chilling plunge in stock prices continued to perplex U.S. regulators. TORAY, BRIDGESTONE SHINE Shares of Toray climbed 4.3 per cent to 538 yen. The Japanese textile maker said it has not yet determined the value of the deal with Airbus but the Nikkei business daily reported that it could be worth 200 billion yen to 300 billion yen ($2.2 billion-$3.3 billion). Softbank Corp jumped 3.9 percent to 2,151 yen, rebounding after falling for the past four trading sessions, as it is set to sell Apple's iPad tablet computer in Japan later this month. Bridgestone Corp advanced 4.3 percent to 1,628 yen after Japan's largest maker of tyres said it has raised its operating profit forecast for the six months to June by 61 percent to 50 billion yen ($546 million) on the back of brisk sales. Shares of companies with exposure to China gained after sliding last week on a combination of worries about Chinese monetary tightening and a fall in Shanghai shares. Machinery maker Komatsu rose 1.9 percent to 1,794 yen and shipper Kawasaki Kisen climbed 3.9 percent to 376 yen. Hitachi Construction gained 2.1 percent to 1,945 yen. But shares of Panasonic fell 2.2 percent to 1,281 yen after the world's No.4 flat TV maker forecast full-year operating profit figures below market expectations. Panasonic expects its operating profit to total 250 billion yen ($2.7 billion) in the year to March 2011, up 31 percent from a year earlier, when profit more than doubled. But the estimate fell short of the 276.5 billion yen consensus from a poll of 20 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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