Nikkei drifts higher as exporters gain, banks down

* Nikkei edges higher, exporters gain on weaker yen

* Bank shares slide on profit-taking in wake of U.S. earnings

* Inpex climbs after oil price surge

TOKYO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average edged up 0.2 percent on Friday, with exporters such as Sony Corp (6758.T) gaining on a weaker yen and robust results from U.S. tech firms, while higher oil prices boosted energy shares. But Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) and other banks slipped as investors moved to lock in profits after results from Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) and Citigroup Inc's (C.N) failed to match the high standards set by JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).

"There's a growing risk of profit-taking on a sense that U.S. shares may be overpriced, with additional financial company results likely to prompt profit-taking even if they're better than expected, as happened yesterday," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.

"Even so, the pace of economic recovery seems to be better than expected, as shown by strong U.S. tech earnings, and global stock markets are trending upwards."

Google Inc (GOOG.O) and IBM (IBM.N) results bested Wall Street estimates and along with a robust performance by Intel Corp earlier this week, helped to underscore that demand from both consumers and businesses is returning.

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 rose 21.73 points to 10,260.38, a day after hitting a three-week closing high. But the broader Topix , which is less tech-heavy, slipped 0.3 percent to 901.74.

Exporters rose, buoyed by the yen's retreat against the dollar. The greenback had gained 0.2 percent to 90.70 yen by mid-morning JPY=.

Sony Corp gained 2.3 percent to 2,660 yen and Canon Inc (7751.T) rose 0.3 percent to 3,530 yen. Industrial robot maker Fanuc (6954.T) rose 0.5 percent to 7,780 yen.

Goldman's earnings nearly quadrupled and Citigroup's third-quarter loss narrower than expected but Citigroup also booked $8 billion in credit losses and the results set off a wave of profit-taking. [ID:nN15288862] [ID:nN15291217].

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T), Japan's biggest banking group, fell 3.1 percent to 470 yen and No. 3 bank Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) lost 2.8 percent to 3,170 yen. Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) shed 0.6 percent to 172 yen.

U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 rose more than 3 percent to a one-year high after data showed gasoline and distillate inventories fell sharply in the latest week. That helped U.S. energy shares eclipse a retreat in banking stocks.

Oil and gas field developer Inpex rose 2.7 percent to 280,000 yen. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)