TOKYO, May 26 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average fell for a third straight session on Thursday, as losses in heavyweight chip-related stocks overshadowed a jump in airline and railway companies.

The Nikkei ended down 0.27% to 26,604.84, reversing early gains that were sparked by a firmer finish on Wall Street.

U.S stocks indexes were buoyed by minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting showing policymakers unanimously felt the U.S. economy was very strong.

"Losses in chip-related stocks weighed on the market since this morning, and as a result gains in airlines and other reopening stocks failed to lift the market," said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.

"With the absence of domestic market-moving catalysts, investors sought cues from overseas. Even as they digested the Fed minutes, investors were not certain if the U.S. economy will improve going forward."

Chip-related Tokyo Electron and Advantest weighed the most on the Nikkei, falling 2.39% and 3.63% respectively. Robot maker Fanuc lost 2.18%.

The broader Topix inched up 0.05% to 1,877.58, helped by a 1.88% gain in Toyota Motor.

Sectors that are likely to benefit from an economic recovery rose, with airlines jumping 2.05% to lead gains among the Tokyo Stock Exchange's 33 industry sub-indexes.

Railway operators Keio climbed 4.8% and East Japan Railway rose 2.48%, helping the sector advance 1.2%.

The real estate sector rose 0.92%, with developer Mitsui Fudosan jumping 2.16%.

There were 115 advancers on the Nikkei index against 108 decliners.

The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 1.12 billion, compared to the average 1.26 billion in the past 30 days. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)