Aug 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average snapped a four-day rally on Tuesday as weak quarterly earnings by heavyweights weighed on the market, with investors awaiting key U.S. inflation data.

The Nikkei closed down 0.88% at 27,999.96. It had bounced above and below 28,000 all day, finally settling just below the psychological barrier.

The broader Topix fell 0.73%.

"It looks like a lot of investors don't want to make moves before Wednesday's U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data release," a domestic securities broker said, adding that the market tends to be quiet during Japan's ongoing summer high school baseball tournament.

Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 155 made losses, three were flat, and 67 made gains.

Technology was the worst performing sector, down 2.33% overall. The only sector to gain was energy, up 1.44%.

Japan Steel Works Ltd and Tokyo Electron Ltd lost the most at 9.17% and 8.25%, respectively, following the release of their quarterly earnings on Monday.

SoftBank Group Corp fell 7.02% on its earnings, having announced job cuts at its Vision Fund investing arm after a record quarterly loss.

"There was a sense in the market that corporate earnings weren't as bad as expected, but that mood changed after Tokyo Electron and SoftBank Group's results," said another market participant at a domestic securities firm.

Japan's video game giants Sony Group Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd already released their results in previous weeks, but nonetheless appeared to be affected by graphics chip maker Nvidia's overnight earnings that pointed to weakness in the gaming market.

Sony fell 2.47%, while Nintendo lost 0.71%. Nvidia's earnings were a catalyst that sent the S&P 500 index into negative territory overnight, NAB's director of economics, Tapas Strickland, wrote in a note.

Security software company Trend Micro Inc was the best performer, rising 13.49% on the news that activist investor ValueAct Capital Partners built an 8.7% stake. (Reporting by Sam Byford and Tokyo markets team; editing by Uttaresh.V)