Nikkei edges up but trade cautious before earnings

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nikkei average rose 0.6 percent on Friday, with a rebound on Wall Street helping to boost investor confidence, while some exporters received additional support from a weaker yen.

Nippon Yusen KK and other shipping firms rose after the Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index, which tracks rates to ship dry commodities, rose above 3,000 points for the first time since August.

Elpida Memory gained after its bigger South Korean rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc said it expected a shortage in dynamic random access memory chips in 2010, but Canon fell following a report its quarterly operating profit likely halved from the previous year.

Trade lacked direction on the whole, however, as investors waited to see how Japanese earnings announcements would pan out, market players said.

"Investors are holding back as Japan's earnings season hits its peak next week and there's the weekend," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Mizuho Securities.

In light trade, the benchmark Nikkei gained 63.26 points to 10,330.43, after ending down 0.6 percent the previous day.

The broader Topix was flat at 909.46.

"Investors will be looking at whether Japanese companies' earnings forecasts for the second half will be revised up and if that would lead to better earnings prospects for the next business year," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after quarterly results from insurer Travelers Cos Inc and regional bank PNC Financial Services Group Inc gave a boost to financial stocks.

SHIPPERS GAIN

The dollar edged up to trade around 91.60 yen in Asian trade. Many Japanese exporters have set their currency rate assumptions at 90-95 yen for the year to March.

Sony Corp rose 1.3 percent to 2,685 yen and Olympus Corp gained 1.7 percent to 2,780 yen. Industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd added 1.1 percent to 8,110 yen.

Nippon Yusen rose 0.8 percent to 362 yen, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines gained 1.8 percent to 575 yen and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha added 1.3 percent to 380 yen.

Elpida advanced 1.2 percent to 1,398 yen after the comments by Hynix Semiconductor.

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co jumped 4.8 percent to 241 yen after the shipbuilder raised its group recurring profit forecast for the April-September first half to 19 billion yen ($208 million) from 10 billion yen, citing an increase in sales.

But Canon slipped 0.6 percent to 3,630 yen after the Nikkei business daily said a stronger yen and sluggish sales of copiers and laser printers likely weighed on its earnings.

Some 872 million shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, below last week's morning average of 956 million.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones, 824 to 676.

(Editing by Joseph Radford)