Nikkei flat on earnings caution despite Goldman

* Market erases earlier gains made on Goldman, Intel results

* Investors cautious ahead of earnings season

* BOJ decision as expected, little impact - analysts

By Aiko Hayashi

TOKYO, July 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average was flat on on Wednesday, giving up earlier gains made on upbeat results from Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Intel (INTC.O) after investors grew cautious ahead of more earnings in the United States and Japan.

The Bank of Japan extended its corporate funding support measures beyond their planned expiry in September, and it kept interest rates on hold. The impact was limited as the moves were within expectations. [ID:nT132248]

Some analysts also said big blocks of both buy and sell orders in futures were creating volatility in a thin cash market.

The market earlier eked out gains after upbeat results from Goldman Sachs and Intel lifted hopes of a recovery for the global economy and helped weaken the yen.

"There are hopes for corporate earnings, but it's still hard to imagine many companies will come out and revise up their earnings prospects," said Junichi Misawa, senior fund manager at STB Asset Management.

"With somewhat overly optimistic views on the economic recovery receding, the market now wants to take a look at corporate earnings."

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 edged up 7.44 points to 9,269.25, after rising as much as 0.8 percent at one stage.

It fell to an eight-week low of 9,050.33 on Monday after climbing to a six-month high of 10,170.82 in mid-June.

The broader Topix fell 0.3 percent to 866.37.

"The BOJ's decision to maintain policy and to extend corporate finance support steps are all within expectations, and I see little direct impact on the stock market," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, equity strategist at Mizuho Securities.

"Having said that, however, the fact that economic conditions warrant an extension of the central bank's extraordinary support measures for companies cannot be a plus for the market."

BANKS DOWN

Shares of banks such as Shinsei Bank (8303.T) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) fell on profit-taking a day after they rose on upbeat analyst comments about the U.S. financial sector.

Investors are still cautious despite a jump in quarterly earnings at Goldman Sachs as other financial institutions have yet to unveil their results.

Other closely watched U.S. bank earnings include those of JPMorgan Chase & CO (JPM.N) on Thursday and Citigroup Inc (C.N) and Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) on Friday.

Shinsei Bank fell 4.5 percent to 128 yen and MUFG dropped 2.4 percent to 538 yen. Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) shed 4 percent to 190 yen.

Some exporters also ran out of steam, with Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) slipping 0.9 percent to 3,470 yen and industrial robot maker Fanuc Ltd (6954.T) falling 1.6 percent to 7,240 yen.

But chip-related stocks rose after Intel's results, with Tokyo Electron (8035.T) gaining 0.9 percent to 4,280 yen and Advantest Corp (6857.T) adding 1.5 percent to 1,741 yen.

Goldman Sachs trounced forecasts with a 33 percent surge in quarterly earnings, while chipmaker Intel reported results after the bell that surpassed expectations, sending its stock 7.4 percent higher in extended trade. [ID:nN14260734] [ID:nN14289399]

Shares of Toko Electric (6921.T) soared by their daily limit after the company and Toshiba (6502.T) said they plan to set up a joint venture to make electronic gauges to measure electricity, gas and water use.

Toko Electric jumped by its daily limit of 80 yen to 380 yen, up 26.7 percent from Tuesday's close, while Toshiba added 1.5 percent to 338 yen.

Square Enix (9684.T) climbed 2.2 percent to 2,085 yen after the video game maker said shipments in Japan of its latest sequel to the blockbuster 'Dragon Quest' game passed 3 million units four days after its launch on Saturday.

Some 2.2 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, up from last week's daily average of 2 billion.

Declining shares beat advancing ones, 855 to 712. (Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Chris Gallagher)