* Nikkei rebounds 0.7 pct, breaks above 25-day moving average
* Investors nervous before peak Japan earnings
* Foreign net buying of Japan stocks fell last week
By Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average gained 0.7 percent on Thursday, recouping losses made a day earlier after upbeat earnings from U.S. tech and metal companies added to optimism ahead of Japanese corporate results.
In the United States, Juniper Networks' quarterly sales beat market expectations while metal processor Allegheny Technologies Inc forecast stronger sales in 2011, helping to push the S&P 500 to a 29-month high.
Printer and camera maker Canon, game maker Nintendo and electronics firm NEC are among companies announcing earnings after the market closes.
"Strong U.S. shares are helping support Japanese stocks but since Japanese companies are now entering their peak earnings period the market is a bit nervous," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Concerns over inflation in emerging economies, including wariness over a possible monetary tightening in China, as well as recent firmness in the yen against the dollar is also adding to market jitters.
The benchmark Nikkei was up 0.7 percent or 73.66 points at 10,475.56, with technical sentiment brightening slightly after the Nikkei broke through its 25-day moving average, now at 10,415.
The broader Topix index rose 0.5 percent to 926.81.
Foreign net buying of stocks last week notched a 12th week of gains but tumbled to 18.4 billion yen ($223.9 million) in the week to Jan. 22 from 325.2 billion yen a week earlier.
"I'm not too worried about the fall in net foreign buying in just one week. I still believe the basic trend by foreigners buying Japanese stocks has not changed," Yamagishi said.
The Nikkei benchmark average has jumped about 11 percent over the last three months, outperforming a 7.7 percent rise for the Dow Jones industrial average and a 2.6 percent rise for Hong Kong Hang Seng Index.
Shares of Toyota Motor Corp rose 0.2 percent to 3,405 yen, up after a slide of 1.9 percent on Wednesday on news it will recall more than 1.7 million cars globally mostly to fix defective fuel pumps and pipes. ($1=82.18 yen) (Editing by Edwina Gibbs)