Japan's Nikkei stock average extended gains on Monday to rise 0.9 percent as investors were heartened by a broad rise in Asian shares, with car battery maker GS Yuasa Corp rebounding after a sell-off.

Among the day's top percentage gainers was Sapporo Holdings, which soared 18.4 percent to 514 yen after Credit Suisse raised its rating on the brewer to outperform from underperform.

Asian equities are a bit strong and people are drawing comfort from that, said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

Another positive was the rebound in certain shares that had fallen sharply last week, such as GS Yuasa, Akino said.

GS Yuasa is a stock that has been popular among retail investors, whose appetite for equities investment has helped lend support to the broader market, Akino said.

GS Yuasa rose 3.7 percent to 1,012 yen, after having slid 13.8 percent on Friday.

The Nikkei rose 0.9 percent to 9,870.97, extending gains after finishing the morning up 0.1 percent.

The broader Topix index gained 0.9 percent to 927.36.

The MSCI broad measure of Asian stocks outside Japan rose 0.9 percent.

A near-term focal point is the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week, market analysts said.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, with markets waiting to see what is said about the economic outlook, a rise in Treasury debt yields, and whether the Fed makes any move to expand or extend its debt buyback programme.

(Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Japan Nikkei 225 Credit Suisse