* Canon gains after nudging up profit outlook
* Pause after rally likely but market outlook still upbeat
* Earnings season in full swing; Honda to report later
TOKYO, July 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.5 percent on Wednesday as Canon gained after the digital camera maker nudged up its profit outlook, but trade generally lacked direction as investors awaited more corporate earnings reports.
Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Nomura Holdings are among companies scheduled to announce results later in the day, as Japan's reporting season gets into full swing this week.
"It's natural that the market takes a breather due to investor fatigue after a nine-day winning streak and caution before earnings reports," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, manager at SMBC Friend Securities.
"But foreign investors appear to have a bullish view on the outlook for the stock markets and that's providing support to blue-chip stocks and a solid floor for the Nikkei."
The benchmark Nikkei added 51.69 points to 10,138.95, after starting the day slightly lower.
It edged down 0.01 percent the previous day as investors booked profits after it climbed 11.5 percent during the nine-day run to Monday, its longest run of gains since 1988.
The broader Topix inched up 0.3 percent to 933.24.
Shares of Canon gained 1.5 percent to 3,420 yen, even though it maintained a cautious view on demand for office equipment.
Other exporters gained, with chip-tester maker Advantest climbing 3.4 percent to 1,984 yen and Honda adding 0.7 percent to 2,760 yen.
But Inpex slipped 0.8 percent to 720,000 yen after U.S. crude futures dropped below $67 a barrel on Wednesday, extending the previous day's decline after industry data showed a larger-than-expected increase in crude inventories last week. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)