TOKYO, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

rose on Friday as a weaker yen lifted automakers, and financial

stocks gained after raising their annual profit forecasts.

The Nikkei was up 0.8% at 38,842.13 by the midday

break but is set to lose 2.4% for the week.

The broader Topix had climbed 0.86% to 2,724.35 but

is on course to post a 1.49% weekly loss.

"The yen's weakness has lifted Japanese shares," Shuutarou

Yasuda, a market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Laboratory

said.

"Gains in European shares and Wall Street's weak finish

overnight suggest that funds that were flown into U.S. equities

excessively in Trump trades are now reallocated to other

regions."

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Thursday after

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dampened investors' hopes

for another interest rate cut this year by saying the U.S.

central bank need not rush to ease monetary policy.

The yen was 0.1% lower at 156.38 per dollar,

nearing a territory that triggered intervention from Japanese

authorities in the past.

A weaker yen tends to boost exporters' shares, as it

increases the value of overseas profits in yen terms when firms

repatriate them to Japan.

Japan's three major banks increased after they raised their

annual profit forecasts to all-time highs on Thursday, fuelled

by robust lending demand and higher margins following a July

interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.

Mizuho Financial Group ( MFG ) jumped 6.4%. Mitsubishi UFJ

Financial Group ( MUFG ) and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group ( SMFG )

rose 1.2% and 1.13%, respectively.

Toyota Motor ( TM ) gained 2% and Honda Motor ( HMC )

rose 2.3%.

Nissan Motor ( NSANF ) climbed 4.7% after Japan's Diamond

Online magazine reported that activist investor Oasis Management

had taken a stake in the automaker.

Nissan ( NSANF ) is poised to post a 6.5% weekly gain after a filing

earlier this week showed that an entity related to activist

investor Effissimo Capital Management had taken a stake in the

company.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan)