TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) - Japanese shares were little

changed on Wednesday after recent gains, with traders looking

for cues after the corporate earnings season.

Mizuho surged 4.3%, leading banks higher after

announcing a plan to shed cross-shareholdings, while Tokio

Marine Holdings ( TKOMF ) sank 2.7% and triggered a decline in

insurance companies after forecasting a 12% drop in annual

profit.

The benchmark Nikkei has climbed 4.9% since U.S.

President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on April 2,

only to pause most of them as he sought bilateral trade deals.

"Stocks have been on a rise, but now that earnings have come

to an end, I think there's a slight lack of catalysts in the

market," said Wataru Akiyama, a strategist at Nomura Securities.

"We may be seeing an adjustment in the stock market after

the recent rally has led to short-term overheating."

Japan's export-reliant economy and equity market are still

vulnerable to how trade talks with the U.S. pan out. The

nation's lead trade negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, will head to the

U.S. on Friday for a third round of talks, the Nikkei newspaper

reported.

Data on Wednesday showed Japanese exports rose for the

seventh straight month in April but shipments to the U.S. fell,

highlighting the toll of Trump's tariffs.

The Nikkei slid 0.1% as of the midday break on Wednesday,

while the broader Topix was up 0.19%.

There were 155 advancers against 69 decliners on the Nikkei,

which is still down almost 6% this year.

Volumes were low on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board,

with just 0.88 billion shares trading hands compared to the

30-day average of 2.16 billion.

Toyota Motor ( TM ) gained 0.4% after the automaker

unveiled its redesigned RAV4 sport utility vehicle, due to

launch in North America, Japan, and Europe in the current

business year.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Varun H K)