Japanese shares rise on Wall Street gains, robust corporate outlook

TOKYO, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Japanese shares rose on Monday, underpinned by gains on Wall Street in the previous session, as investors scooped up stocks with a positive outlook in the middle of earnings season.

The Nikkei rose 1.21% to 27,528.66 by the midday break, while the broader Topix gained 1.02% to 1,934.90.

"Investors continued to look for shares with robust earnings," Nomura Securities strategist Maki Sawada said at a media briefing.

"Going forward, investors will be cautious ahead of closely-eyed U.S. comsumer price data which is due later this week."

Wall Street closed higher on Friday in volatile trading to snap a four-session losing streak, as investors wrestled with a mixed jobs report and comments from Federal Reserve officials on the pace of interest rate hikes.

Investors await a major event on Thursday when U.S. consumer prices for October are released, with any upside surprise set to test hopes for a step down in Fed hikes.

In Japan, JFE Holdings jumped 6.45% after Japan's No.2 steelmaker raised its annual profit outlook.

Peers Nippon Steel and Kobe Steel rose 3.43% and 3.24%, respectively, lifting the steelmaker index by 3.38% to make it the top gainer among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Sanrio surged 13.92% after the owner of the Hello Kitty brand raised its annual outlook.

Heavyweights rose, with chip making equipment maker Tokyo Electron rising 3.58%, providing the biggest boost to the Nikkei. Uniqlo clothing store owner Fast Retailing rose 1.36%, while technology investor SoftBank Group climbed 1.4%.

On the other hand, office equipment maker Ricoh tanked 6.95% after cutting its annual profit outlook and Sharp fell 3.6% after the smartphone maker made a similar move. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Rashmi Aich)