Nikkei rises after Wall Street gains; corporate earnings buoy mood

* For the week, Nikkei is up 1.2 pct * SoftBank bucks weakness after Alibaba’s revenue disappoints By Ayai Tomisawa TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Japan’s Nikkei share average rose on Friday as strong company earnings in the United States and at home from the likes of Nomura Holdings and Advantest Corp buoyed investors’ risk appetite.

The Nikkei gained 1.0 percent to 17,789.84 by mid-morning after falling 1.1 percent on the previous day. For the week, the Nikkei has gained 1.2 percent.

U.S. shares rallied overnight after oil prices rose and bellwether companies such as Apple Inc and Boeing Co impressed the market with strong results.

Data early on Friday showed Japan’s core consumer inflation slowed for a fifth straight month in December, hit by collapsing oil prices, but factory output unexpectedly rebounded, rising 1.0 percent in December.

Nomura Holdings Inc rose 3.1 percent after reporting the biggest jump in its quarterly profits in a year, and Advantest Corp soared 7.7 percent after raising its profit and dividend forecasts for the year ending in March.

“Overseas catalysts still dominate the Japanese market’s mood. But with quarterly results being released now, investors are seeing if there is any forward-looking indication on how companies will perform in 2015,” said Masaru Hamasaki, head of market & investment information department at Amundi Japan.

“Companies which rely on domestic demand should do well this year on hopes for stronger consumption because the second tax hike was delayed and oil prices are low.” Exporters were in demand as the dollar fetched 118.28 yen , rebounding from Thursday’s low of 117.25. Tokyo Electron Ltd rose 1.0 percent and Sony Corp added 0.7 percent.

Bucking the strength, index-heavy SoftBank Corp fell 3.5 percent and was the second most traded stock by turnover after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd reported lower-than-expected revenues for the third quarter. SoftBank has a 32.59 percent stake in Alibaba.

The broader Topix gained 0.5 percent to 1,421.11 and the new JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.6 percent to 12,892.27.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)