TOKYO, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday to its highest level in more than two weeks, as traders scooped up beaten-down stocks and an overnight rally on Wall Street lifted sentiment.

The Nikkei climbed 0.9% to 32,529.72 by the midday break, hitting its highest level since Aug. 14, but was down about 2% so far in the month. The broader Topix was up 0.77% at 2,321.22.

Wall Street closed sharply higher overnight, after a drop in monthly job openings cemented expectations of a pause in interest rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

"The Japanese market rose in part tracking Wall Street. It is strong because not only heavyweight chip-related shares but also other smaller stocks rose," said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

"Investors scooped up stocks which were sold earlier this month. Japanese institutional investors who have not been able to buy enough Japanese equities were buyers. Foreign investors who had sold stocks earlier this month also bought them back."

Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron rose 2.44% to provide the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Chip testing-making equipment maker Advantest climbed 1.34%. Electronic component maker Kyocera advanced 3.34%.

The precision instrument sector rose 1.8% to become the top performer among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes, with Hoya and Olympus up 2.54% and 2.07%, respectively.

Toyota Motor rose 1.09% after the world's biggest-selling automaker said it would restart operations at its assembly plants in Japan on Wednesday after a production system malfunction brought domestic output to a halt.

Retailers fell, with department store operators J.Front Retailing losing 1.9% to become the worst performer on the Nikkei. Takashimaya lost 1.49%.

Convenience store operator Seven & I Holdings fell 1.24% to weigh the most on the Nikkei, followed by cosmetics maker Shiseido, which slipped 0.77%.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)