Nikkei rises as exporters gain; Pioneer, NEC up

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.7 percent on Friday as exporters climbed after good news on U.S. jobs renewed hopes about the pace of economic recovery and as tech shares advanced after gains by their U.S. peers, but profit-taking weighed on gains.

Pioneer Corp (6773.T) advanced nearly 9 percent to 246 yen after UBS upgraded the consumer electronics company to "neutral" from "sell" after it said on Thursday that it needs to raise less funds than previously planned, and NEC Corp (6701.T) surged despite saying it plans to raise up to $1.5 billion in shares.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 rose 71.91 points to 9,789.35 though it was down on the week for the second straight week. The broader Topix lost 0.1 percent to 874.01.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies)