* Profit-taking weighs after gain of 6 pct in 4 sessions
* Euro's weakness hurts precision machinery shares
* Nikkei lack clear direction, technicals drive
TOKYO, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average edged lower on Tuesday as investors took profits after its surge of more than 6 percent in the last four sessions and reflecting the yen's firmness against the euro.
Shares of precision machinery makers, which have strong business ties in Europe, lost more than 1 percent as the euro broadly weakened due to rekindling concerns over the euro zone's debt problems.
"The yen's strength against the euro is inducing some selling pressure in precision machinery shares," said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
The euro fell about 0.5 percent to around 112.40 yen.
By mid-morning the benchmark Nikkei was down 0.2 percent or 14.46 points at 9,718.46.
Meanwhile, the broader Topix was up 0.1 percent at 842.85.
"In general, sectors such as wholesales and machinery were put under profit-taking pressure after the Nikkei's jump of more than 6 percent in the last four sessions," Kuramochi said.
Profit-taking intensified after U.S. shares retreated from a two-year high on Monday, weighed down by financial stocks and a stronger dollar.
Still, the Nikkei lacked clear direction with investors unwilling to sell too heavily as underlying market sentiment remains bullish after it hit a three-month intraday high of 9,737.01 the previous day, traders said.
Despite the yen's strength against the euro, the Japanese currency remained well below its record high against the dollar, which was another factor to limit active selling of stocks.
The Nikkei was expected to find support around 9,650, while a series of technical sales are likely to block rises around 9,750-9,800, traders said.
The market experienced strong selling pressure when the Nikkei approached 9,750 the previous day, but a clear break beyond 9,800 -- a peak hit in July -- could trigger a series of stop-loss buying and option-related moves to pave the way for it to climb towards 10,000, traders said. (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Michael Watson)