Nikkei edges up but trade cautious before earnings

                                
 * Nikkei up 0.6 pct, Topix flat
                                
 * Shippers advance after key freight index climb
                                
 * Canon slips after media report Q3 op profit likely halved
                                
 By Aiko Hayashi
                                
 TOKYO, Oct 23 (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 <9101.T> and other shipping firms rose after
the Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index <.BADI>, which
tracks rates to ship dry commodities, rose above 3,000 points for
the first time since August. [ID:nLM052346]
                                
 Elpida Memory <6665.T> gained after its bigger South Korean
rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc <000660.KS> said it expected a
shortage in dynamic random access memory chips in 2010, but Canon
<7751.T> 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 <.N225> gained 63.26
points to 10,330.43, after ending down 0.6 percent the previous
day.
                                
 The broader Topix <.TOPX> 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 <TRV.N> and regional bank PNC Financial
Services Group Inc <PNC.N> gave a boost to financial stocks. [.N]
                                
 SHIPPERS GAIN
                                
 The dollar edged up to trade around 91.60 yen <JPY=> in Asian
trade. Many Japanese exporters have set their currency rate
assumptions at 90-95 yen for the year to March.
                                
 Sony Corp <6758.T> rose 1.3 percent to 2,685 yen and Olympus
Corp <7733.T> gained 1.7 percent to 2,780 yen. Industrial robot
maker Fanuc Ltd <6954.T> added 1.1 percent to 8,110 yen.
                                
 Nippon Yusen rose 0.8 percent to 362 yen, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines
<9104.T> gained 1.8 percent to 575 yen and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha
<9107.T> added 1.3 percent to 380 yen.
                                
 Elpida advanced 1.2 percent to 1,398 yen after the comments
by Hynix Semiconductor. [ID:nSEO295349]
                                
 Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co <7003.T> 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. [ID:nT291104]
                                
 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)