Nikkei at 3-week high as weak yen boosts exporters

* Nikkei hits 3-week high as weak yen buoys exporters

* Seven straight days of gains a run unseen for seven months

* Kyocera, other tech exporters gain on Apple optimism

* Japan Tobacco extends losses on worries about tax rise

TOKYO, July 23 - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose nearly 1 percent on Thursday to a three-week closing high as Sony Corp and other exporters climbed on a weaker yen, with buying of futures an additional boost for the market mood. Kyocera Corp and other high-tech exporters advanced, riding a wave of confidence about U.S. consumer spending after bellwethers such as Apple Inc posted solid quarterly earnings. Fujitsu Ltd maintained early morning gains but was off the day's highs after it said it aims to boost operating profit more than three-fold in three years.

"Mainly it was the weaker yen, with strong buying of futures then leading the cash market higher," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist with Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

"U.S. earnings have been much better than expected, especially for high-tech companies, and this is leading to hope that Japanese earnings will beat expectations as well."

Japan's earnings season kicks off in earnest next week, but mobile phone operator KDDI Corp announced results just after the close.

The benchmark Nikkei rose 0.7 percent or 69.78 points to 9,792.94, its highest since July 3. It has posted seven straight trading days of gains, its longest winning streak in seven months.

The broader Topix rose 0.2 percent to 908.69.

Trend-following funds such as CTAs bought Japanese stock futures in early afternoon trade, taking their cues from the rise in the dollar above 94 yen and gains in Hong Kong shares, market analysts said. The Hang Seng Index climbed 2.3 percent, outperforming both the Nikkei and Asian shares as a whole.

Some analysts noted that the Nikkei's early afternoon jump briefly broke above resistance at the top of its Ichimoku cloud around 9,850 and could point the way to further gains.

"Many in the market say the next target is 10,000, but I myself believe it could be 12,000," added Mitsubishi UFJ Securities' Yamagishi.

EXPORTERS ENERGISED

The yen fell 0.7 percent against the dollar. A weaker yen boosts the value of exporter profits when repatriated.

Toyota Motor Corp rose 1.7 percent to 3,660 yen, while Sony gained 1.5 percent to 2,330 yen.

Kyocera jumped 3 percent to 7,220 yen, Tokyo Electron rose 3.2 percent to 4,510 yen and TDK Corp gained 1.8 percent to 4,610 yen.

Fujitsu, Japan's biggest IT services company, said on Thursday it aims to more than double its operating profit next year after restructuring its operations and expanding overseas revenues.

Its shares rose 3.4 percent to 543 yen.

KDDI bucked the trend, slipping 1.4 percent to 512,000 yen after Goldman Sachs downgraded the mobile phone operator to "neutral" from "buy" and raised its target price to 545,000 from 530,000.

Goldman analysts said KDDI's share price has approached their previous target, reducing scope for gains.

After the close, KDDI said its first quarter group operating profit was 141.83 billion yen, up 14 percent year on year.

Japan Tobacco dropped 4.5 percent to 259,900 yen, and one market analyst cited growing concerns about the chances of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan taking power in an Aug. 30 election. The Democrats want higher taxes on cigarettes.

Trade picked up, with 2.3 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, above last week's daily average of 2.1 billion.

Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by 900 to 662