* Banking stocks outperform

* Ono Pharmaceutical jumps

By Ayai Tomisawa

TOKYO, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged up on Tuesday morning in thin trade while Toshiba Corp plummeted on news that it was considering booking a goodwill impairment loss of several hundreds of billion yen.

The Nikkei gained 0.2 percent to 19,443.26 in midmorning trade.

Overall sentiment was steady as the dollar was up 0.1 percent at 117.230 yen after spending the previous day in a narrow 117.005-117.390 range as many major financial markets were closed for Christmas holidays.

"While foreign investors are away for the holidays, retail investors are the main players today," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.

Institutional investors are on the sidelines amid a lack of economic catalysts, he added.

Banking shares recovered with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gaining 1.2 percent and Mizuho Financial Group firming up 0.9 percent.

Ono Pharmaceutical Co soared more than 5 percent after the Nikkei newspaper reported that the company plans to sell its cancer treatment drug, Opdivo, in the domestic market in the next fiscal year to treat stomach cancer.

Toshiba tumbled as much as 16 percent after the company said it was considering booking a goodwill impairment loss of several hundreds of billion yen on a U.S. nuclear power acquisition made by its Westinghouse division.

The broader Topix gained 0.2 percent to 1,541.48 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.3 percent to 13,824.38.

(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Vyas Mohan)