Nikkei hits 10-month high, buoyed by earnings

* Nikkei touches 10-month high just below 10,300

* Sony climbs, Nintendo tumbles after earnings

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 1.1 percent and hit a 10-month high on Friday, buoyed by solid corporate earnings that lifted shares such as Sony Corp (6758.T), which posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss.

By contrast, Nintendo Co (7974.OS) sank 5 percent after the company reported a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on slowing demand for its Wii videogame console and a stronger yen, though it stuck to its full-year forecast for a decline of 12 percent. [ID:nT269596]

"Earnings for the April-June quarter have been stronger than expected and there have been a fair number of upward forecast revisions, all of which is improving sentiment and keeping the market supported," said Yumi Nishimura, deputy general manager at the investment advisory section of Daiwa Securities SMBC.

"But given that key U.S. indicators such as employment data are due out next week, rises will not be unchecked. Expect some profit-taking at the highs."

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 gained 111.03 points to 10,279.35 after earlier rising as far as 10,299.85, and remained on track for its fifth straight month of gains.

The broader Topix .TOPX rose 0.8 percent to 944.81.

A slew of generally solid results and some positive surprises, such as Honda Motor Co (7267.T) beating expectations for a loss, are likely to help buoy the Nikkei well into next week, said Noritsugu Hirakawa, a strategist at Okasan Securities.

"There isn't much of a sense of overheating yet, we aren't likely to see caution about that until perhaps around 10,500, with rises on the positive earnings likely to continue until just before U.S. indicators come out late in the week," he added.

Tokyo Electron (8035.T) and pharmaceutical firm Takeda Pharmaceutical Co <(4502.T) are among firms due to announce earnings later on Friday.

In a sign of the growing positive mood, Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) loss for this business year will likely be several tens of billions of yen less than originally forecast by the automaker thanks to strong sales of hybrid cars, public broadcaster NHK reported. Toyota gained 0.8 percent to 3,960 yen.

Sony Corp rose 3 percent to 2,585 yen after the consumer electronics maker posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, helped by an improvement in its struggling flat TV business, and said it was aiming to beat its official forecast and at least break even for the full year. [ID:nT140138]

Other tech exporters were solid as well, with Tokyo Electron (8035.T) up 3.4 percent at 4,920 yen and Advantest (6857.T), a maker of chip-testing equipment, gaining 2.3 percent to 2,045 yen.

Mitsui Fudosan Co (8801.T), Japan's largest developer, climbed 4 percent to 1,723 yen after reporting a 32 percent rise in quarterly profit helped by a solid performance in apartment sales and by its lease business. [ID:nT3219] (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Chris Gallagher)