(Updates prices as of 0600 GMT)

By Brigid Riley

TOKYO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

rose to a two-week closing high on Friday, propelled by gains in

index heavyweight Fast Retailing ( FRCOF ), even as investors turned

cautious as the earnings season kicked into high gear.

The Nikkei closed 0.6% higher at 39,605.80, logging

a 2.5% gain for the week. The broader Topix finished

down 0.2% at 2,706.2.

Shares of Fast Retailing ( FRCOF ) jumped 6.1% to become the

top percentage gainers, after the owner of clothing brand Uniqlo

said on Thursday it had booked record profits for a third

straight year.

The rise in Fast Retailing ( FRCOF ), the heaviest of the Nikkei's 225

constituents, was enough to keep the Nikkei well in positive

territory, even though 160 shares declined.

Despite a dip in the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index

overnight and Wall Street's three main indexes, Japan's

chip-related shares closed higher, tracking gains in Nvidia ( NVDA )

.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ), which

counts Nvidia ( NVDA ) among its customers, climbed 3.5%. Chip-making

equipment giant Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) edged up 0.4%.

The Nikkei struggled to move closer to the 40,000 level,

with investors looking forward to a slew of corporate earnings

results on Friday and Tuesday, and taking positions carefully

ahead of a local holiday on Monday.

"It's difficult to buy before earnings are released," said

Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS

Asset Management.

"There's a sense that investors want to discern company

earnings trends" before making a move, he said.

Among major losers, AI-focused startup investor SoftBank

Group was down nearly 1%, telecommunications company

KDDI ( KDDIF ) slid 1.7%, and automaker Toyota Motor

fell 0.7%.

Seven & I Holdings ( SVNDF ) declined 1.4%. The retailer

announced on Thursday a roadmap to hive off underperforming

businesses and focus on its convenience store operations, as it

aims to fend off a $47-billion takeover bid from Canada's

Alimentation Couche-Tard ( ANCTF ).

(Reporting by Brigid Riley; Editing by Eileen Soreng and

Subhranshu Sahu)