* Caution before upcoming earnings results weighs on market
* Little impact from ruling party defeat at Tokyo poll
* Brewers climb on news Suntory considering merger with Kirin
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, July 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 1 percent on Monday, giving up earlier gains on caution ahead of upcoming corporate earnings releases and as the yen remained resilient against the dollar.
Kirin Holdings Co gained 8.4 percent after brewer Suntory Holdings Ltd said on Monday it was considering options including a merger with Kirin, which would create one of the world's largest beverage and food firms.
Investors warily eyed the yen, which rose to a five-month high against the dollar below 91.80 yen on Friday. The currency retreated to near 93.00 yen early on Monday before drifting back to 92.50 yen.
Market players said bargain hunting by individual investors, which had helped lift the Nikkei earlier in the session, petered out with the yen proving resilient.
There was little impact from a big defeat for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in a Tokyo poll on Sunday, which is considered a barometer for the national election.
"The election outcome was as expected so it is having a limited impact on the market so far. Even if the opposition party was to oust the LDP in a national election, the impact on stocks can't be gauged until the winning party's policies are hammered out," said Takahiko Murai, general manager of equities at Nozomi Securities.
Soichiro Monji, chief strategist at Daiwa SB Investments, said factors perceived as equity-supportive were effectively being cancelled out by incentives viewed as negative.
"Many investors would consider a ruling party change as positive for stocks, as that may usher in reforms. But on the other hand policy shifts could spell tough times for some industries," Monji said.
The benchmark Nikkei ended the morning down 94.44 points at 9,192.84, a seven-week low, and on track for a nine-day slide.
The broader Topix fell 0.8 percent to 865.28.
BREWERS UP
Kirin gained 8.4 percent to 1,400 yen. Other brewers advanced, with Sapporo Holdings rising 8.5 percent to 548 yen and Asahi Breweries Ltd gaining 4.2 percent to 1,418 yen.
The food subindex surged 17 percent after the news that unlisted Suntory was considering a merger with Kirin, the biggest advance among the subindexes.
Daiichi Sankyo gained 3 percent to 1,714 yen after U.S. health officials approved Eli Lilly and Co and Daiichi Sankyo's blood thinner Effient after several delays, and the companies said they would launch the drug "in the coming weeks."
Daiichi Sankyo's research partner, Ube Industries, which jointly developed the drug, rose 2.4 percent to 261 yen.
Kenedix Inc, a unit of U.S. real estate investment and services firm Kennedy-Wilson, tumbled by its daily limit of 4,000 yen, or 11.1 percent, to 32,200 yen after Nikko Citigroup cut its rating on the stock to "hold/high risk" from "buy/high risk".
Closely watched earnings releases this week include those of Goldman Sachs and Intel on Tuesday, JP Morgan Chase on Thursday and Bank of America on Friday.
Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 1 billion shares changing hands, in line with last week's morning average.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by more than 3 to 1. (Editing by Chris Gallagher)