* Nikkei halts 9 days of gains as caution sets in
* Advantest, high-tech shares take a breather after rally
* Banking shares gain, seen as laggards
* Hitachi announces quarterly net loss, bid plan for units
* Canon quarterly profit tumbles, nudges forecast higher
By Rika Otsuka
TOKYO, July 28 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average inched lower on Tuesday as caution set in after nine straight days of gains and shares that had led the strong run-up such as Advantest Corp fell.
Hitachi Ltd swung into negative territory after Japan's biggest electronics maker posted a quarterly net loss and announced plans to spend 273 billion yen ($2.9 billion) to buy out five listed subsidiaries.
But the overall market stayed solid as investors picked up banking shares that many see as having fallen behind the market's advance, with top bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group rising.
"Investors are cautious just because the Nikkei has climbed nine days in a row -- its longest rising streak in 21 years," said Tomomi Yamashita, a senior fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management.
"But few are worried about a sharp fall in share prices from current levels, with those who had missed chances to buy hunting laggards."
In light trade, the benchmark Nikkei dipped 1.40 points to 10,087.26. It rose 1.5 percent the previous day to post its highest close since June 12.
Market players said investors booked profits after the benchmark Nikkei climbed 11.5 percent during the nine-day run to Monday, its longest climb since 1988.
The electronic machinery subindex has advanced about 15 percent during the period, compared with a 5.6 percent gain in the banking subindex.
The broader Topix rose 0.2 percent to 930.
Investor reluctance to aggressively take positions ahead of a slew of earnings announcements was also holding the Nikkei in check, they said. Japan's corporate earnings season gets into full gear this week.
After the close, Canon Inc posted a 72 percent fall in quarterly profit, hit by weak demand for copiers and a firmer yen. But the world's largest digital camera maker raised its full-year forecast by 6 percent.
TECHS DOWN, BANKS GAIN
Chip-tester maker Advantest shed 2.1 percent to 1,918 yen and Tokyo Electron Ltd fell 2.3 percent to 4,640 yen. Electronics components maker TDK Corp slipped 2 percent to 4,930 yen.
Hitachi lost 3.6 percent to 293 yen, compared with a 0.3 percent rise before it announced its April-June earnings and details of a plan to buy out its subsidiaries.
Shares of big banks rose as investors picked them up on views that financials have lagged a sharp rise in the overall market in the past two weeks.
Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 0.4 percent to 555 yen and second-ranked Mizuho Financial Group rose 0.5 percent to 212 yen.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group jumped 3.9 percent to 3,990 yen, boosted after Nomura Securities' Financial & Economic Research Center raised its rating for SMFG to "buy" from "neutral" and its target price to 4,500 yen from 3,700 yen.
JFE Holdings Inc, the world's No.5 steelmaker, extended gains to end 7.3 percent higher at 3,550 yen after the company forecast a full-year profit of 40 billion yen, though it swung to a quarterly loss on a collapse in demand from car and machinery makers.
Trade slowed on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 1.8 billion shares changing hands, below last week's daily average of 2.3 billion.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones 994 to 569. (Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Michael Watson)