* probes alex rodriguez Nikkei extends texas rangers badge uncovers gains, touches fresh 7-½ month high Stocks | China | Japan * China-linked shares, resources and shippers buoy * Worry about GM lingers but not weighing significantly TOKYO, June 1 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.1percent on Monday to touch a more than 7-month high, buoyed byhopes for China's recovery that lifted resource shares, shippersand trading houses. But shares of real estate developers were hit after apartmentdeveloper Joint Corp 8874.T filed for bankruptcy protectionwith about $1.5 billion in debt, underscoring the sluggish stateof the property market [ID:nT59081] Lingering concern about troubled U.S. automaker GeneralMotors GM.N was keeping investors wary ahead of an expectedbankruptcy, but while that was limiting gains it was unlikely tosend the Nikkei lower, market analysts said On Sunday, the U.S. government and GM finalised plans for thebattered company to reorganise and a source with direct knowledgeof the preparations said GM is set to file for bankruptcy beforeU.S markets open on Monday. [ID:nN31495007] "People will be keeping their eyes on GM today, making itdifficult for the market to rise that much," said Masayoshi Yano,a senior market analyst at Meiwa Sedurities. "Even though people say it's been factored in, they stillwant to wait and see." But positive sentiment was spreading in the market after U.S.consumer confidence rose in May to its highest in eight monthsand after the Nikkei posted a third successive month of gains inMay, the first such streak since April-June 2007. "We're seeing a lot of shares up today on expectations forChina's recovery as well, and while this is still of course justexpectations it's buoying all the so-called China plays: metals,shippers, trading houses, and individual shares such as Komatsu,"said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJSecurities.
"The situation with GM also seems to be pretty well cleanedup, and this will remove a major source of uncertainty." Others disagreed, though, noting that the benchmark Nikkei'ssustained move above its 200-day moving average -- which nowcomes in a bit above 9,300 -- should have set the stage for sharpgains, but that inevitable worry about GM was keeping gainscapped baseball tickets . The Nikkei .N225 rose 12.94 points to 9,535.44 afterearlier rising as far as 9,549.09, its highest since Oct 15 texas rangers badges . Thebroader Topixrose 0.3 percent to 900.74 Mitsui Mining and Smelting M5706.T> surged 7.1 percent to 240yen and Dowa Holdings (5714.T) powered up 6.8 percent to 453 yen.Sumitomo Metal Mining (5713.T) rose 4.2 percent to 1,407 yen walker texas rangers . Shipping firms powered higher after the Baltic Exchange'smain sea freight index .BADI rose to an eight-month high onFriday on Chinese demand for goods texas rangers badge . The index, which gauges the cost of shipping resourcesincluding iron ore, cement, grain, coal and fertiliser, rose 5.94percent on Friday. [ID:nLT426111] Nippon Yusen (9101.T) rose 5.5 percent to 481 yen, KawasakiKisen (9107.T) surged 5.8 percent to 456 yen and Mitsui O.S.K.lines (9104.T) climbed 4 percent to 1,264 yen. Trading house Marubeni Corp (8002.T) rose 4.2 percent andfellow trade Sojitz (2768.T) gained 3.2 percent to 196 yen But property developers dragged on the market.
Mitsubishi Estate Co (8802.T) dropped 1.2 percent to 1,545yen michael young autograph . Mitsui Fudosan Co (8801.T), Japan's biggest developer, fell1.6 percent to 1,561 yen texas rangers badges . Joint Corp shares were untraded, with the price indicated at158 yen, down 26 percent from its Friday close of 213 yen.Shareholder Orix Corp (8591.T), which provided Joint withcapital late last year to shore up its finances, lost 4.8 percentto 5,700 yen walker texas rangers . (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Michael Watson) Stocks China Japan . HONG KONG, June 1 (Reuters) - These are some of the leadingstories in Hong Kong newspapers on Monday.