TOKYO, May 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei pared early losses and turned higher on Thursday after the yen weakened, but gains were capped by dismal earnings from companies such as Toyota Motor Corp.
The Nikkei share average gained 0.3 percent to 16,623.95 points by mid-afternoon, putting the benchmark index on course to post its four straight session of gains.
"The yen's weakness is lifting investor appetite," said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Toyota fell 1.4 percent, but had tumbled as much as 4.5 percent earlier after it forecast a 40 percent decline in operating profit for the current fiscal year.
By 0532 GMT, the dollar was up 0.5 percent to 108.90 yen .
The broader Topix added 0.1 percent to 1,335.83 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 advanced 0.1 percent to 12,074.26.
(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; Editing by Kim Coghill)