TOKYO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

slipped on Friday, with investors locking in profits after four

days of gains and ahead of a key U.S. jobs report later in the

day.

Chip-sector stocks were stand-out losers, dragged down by

declines in Wall Street peers overnight.

The Nikkei shed 0.9% to 39,042.59, at the midday

recess, after dipping to just six points above the psychological

milestone of 39,000.

The broader Topix, which has a lower concentration

of tech shares, declined 0.65%. A sub-index of growth stocks

dropped 0.79% vs a 0.52% retreat in value stocks

.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ), an Nvidia

supplier, sagged 3.18% to lose the most points on the Nikkei.

Chip-making machinery giant Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) lost 2.66%.

However, the Nikkei remains about 2.1% higher for the week,

after tracking Wall Street's rally to record highs.

"After four consecutive days of gains, caution in the market

is increasing," said Kazuo Kamitani, an equities strategist at

Nomura.

"More and more investors are stepping back to wait for the

U.S. payrolls report."

Monthly non-farm payrolls data will be carefully parsed

later in the day for fresh indications of the Federal Reserve's

interest rate path, with market-implied odds currently at around

73% for a quarter-point reduction on Dec. 18.

Meanwhile, a stabilization in the yen exchange rate at

around 150 per U.S. dollar boosted automakers, who had

been pushed to multi-year lows in some cases on the currency's

rapid climb to a nearly two-month high earlier this week.

Nissan ( NSANF ) gained 2.09% and Mazda ( MZDAF ) rose 1.54%.

Toyota ( TM ) was an outlier, with a 0.19% decline.

Airlines were the top performers among the Tokyo

Stock Exchange's 33 industry groupings, gaining 0.67% amid

depressed crude oil prices.