Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Wednesday, extending its rally to a fourth session, although gains were subdued following a surge above the psychological 27,000 level in the previous session as earnings season got underway.

Automotive battery component supplier Dai Nippon Printing soared 13% to top the leaderboard, following media reports that activist investor Elliott Management had taken a large stake.

Suzuki Motor was another big gainer, after its India unit Maruti Suzuki's quarterly profit more than doubled.

At the bottom though, was motor maker Nidec, which tumbled after almost halving its forecast profit in an inauspicious start to Japan's earnings season.

The Nikkei ended the morning session up 0.11% at 27,299.19, not far from the session high. However, it failed to reach the five-week high of 27,381.00 hit on Tuesday.

The broader Topix added 0.19% to 1,976.62.

"To be honest, I hadn't expected the Nikkei to top 27,000 yesterday," Kazuo Kamitani, an equity strategist at Nomura, said in a conference call with journalists.

"These last three days, the Nikkei has risen quite a lot, so there is a feeling like it might be a bit overheated," he added. "The remainder of this week, the topside is likely to be heavy."

Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 149 rose, 65 fell and 11 were flat.

Dai Nippon Printing jumped 12.97%, also lifting peer Toppan , which advanced 5.18% to be the Nikkei's no. 2 performer.

Suzuki was next with a 4.88% gain.

By contrast, Nidec tumbled 5.39%, making it the Nikkei's worst performer by a large margin.

Semiconductor-related shares also did poorly, with chip-testing-equipment maker Advantest sliding 1.61%.

Other big name losers on the day included Toyota and Sony, which each shed about 0.5%. (Editing by Rashmi Aich)