Japan's Nikkei rises ahead of U.S. inflation data

TOKYO, May 11 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei index ended higher on Wednesday as investors scooped up companies with an upbeat outlook, although gains were capped by concerns around U.S. consumer data due later in the day.

The Nikkei share average edged up 0.18% to close at 26,213.64, after trading in negative territory earlier in the session.

"Investors tried to look for stocks that had positive outlook," said Shoichi Arisawa, general manager of the investment research department at IwaiCosmo Securities.

"Still, it was hard to make active bets before confirmation whether the U.S. consumer prices have peaked out or not."

Investors will closely eye the U.S. April consumer price index reading for signs inflation may be starting to cool, with expectations for an 8.1% annual increase compared to the 8.5% rise recorded in March.

Some gains were also limited by the Dow's negative finish overnight.

The broader Topix fell 0.60% to 1,851.15, dragged down by Toyota Motor which fell 4.43% after flagging profit declines.

During the market hours, Toyota warned that operating earnings this year could slump by a fifth "due to unprecedented increases in materials and logistics costs," on the back of a 33% slide in fourth-quarter profit.

The auto and parts sector slid 3.31%.

Sony Group rose 2.1% after the camera and auto equipment maker announced that its fourth-quarter operating profit more than doubled from a year ago.

Nintendo gained 3.25% after the videogame maker announced a 10-1 stock split effective Oct. 1.

Yokogawa Electric surged 12.81% after the company posted a 10% rise in its annual net profit, making it Nikkei's biggest gainer.

There were 69 advancers on the Nikkei index against 153 decliners.

The volume of shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board was 1.4 billion, compared to the average of 1.21 billion in the past 30 days. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; editing by Uttaresh.V and Vinay Dwivedi)