TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Thursday after eight consecutive sessions of losses, as signs of progress in U.S. political negotiations over debt ceiling offered a catalyst for bargain-hunting but the broader Topix failed to maintain gains. Investors bought back battered shares that had been beaten down recently on worries central banks might pare stimulus faster than expected due to rising concerns about higher inflation worldwide. The Nikkei average added 0.54% to 27,678.21 but the broader Topix failed to sustain earlier gains to end 0.12% lower at 1,939.62, marking the ninth consecutive day of losses, which is its longest losing spell since 2012. Decliners outnumbered gainers by a rough ratio of 3 to 2 , also pointing to a still fragile market sentiment. “When the market began to look cheap after the Nikkei has fallen back to 27,000-handle, we had a possible extension of U.S. debt ceiling, so short-covering came in,” said Naoya Oshikubo, senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management. The U.S. Senate appeared close to reaching a temporary deal to avert a federal debt default in the next two weeks, after Democrats said they might accept a Republican proposal to defuse the partisan standoff that threatens the broader economy. Volatile shippers bounced back, with their index rising 4.8% after having lost almost a third of its value in the previous eight sessions. MSCI’s semiconductor-related shares index rose 1.3%, with Tokyo Electron up 1.6% and Screen Holdings adding 1.5%. Elsewhere, Welcia rose 5.9% after the drugstore chain operator posted brisk earnings results in the three months to August. But Aeon lost 6.1% after the supermarket chain operator’s earnings disappointed investors. Japan Post Holdings lost 0.6% after the government said it would sell up to 1.03 billion shares, which at Wednesday’s closing price would be worth 952 billion yen ($8.52 billion). To reduce the impact, the firm announced a share buyback of up to 100 billion yen. (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Krishna Chandra Eluri)