Nikkei rises as techs lead gains; Sony jumps on buyback, Microsoft tie-up

* Nikkei rebounds but posts second straight week of fall
* Sony jumps 10% on share buyback, Microsoft partnership
* Communication equipment makers gain on rally in U.S. peers
* Investors look to Monday's GDP, sales tax debate

By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, May 17 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average
jumped on Friday, led by Sony 6758.T and technology shares,
but ended the week with a slight loss amid concerns about rising
U.S.-China trade tensions.
The Nikkei rose 0.89% to 21,251 points. For the week, it was
down 0.44 percent, the second straight week of losses. The
broader Topix .TOPX rose 1.09% to 1,554.25, eking out weekly
gain of 0.3%.
Markets gave back some earlier gains amid increasingly tough
words from China on trade. The Communist Party's People's Daily
used a front-page commentary to evoke the patriotic spirit of
past wars, saying the trade war would never bring China down.
Sony 6758.T jumped 9.9% after it announced a share buyback
and strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp MSFT.O on areas
such as streaming games, media and new image sensors.
Softbank Group 9984.T , a major investor in a whole gamut
of U.S. tech firms, gained 2.3%.
Some communication equipment manufacturers rose after upbeat
earnings boosted Cisco CSCO.O 6.6%, helping to drive up the
Nasdaq Telecommunication index .IXUT 4.2%, the second biggest
gain in the past four years.
Some market players suspect those shares also were helped by
speculation of possible windfalls from Washington's tough stance
on China's Huawei Techonologies, by far their strongest rival.
NEC 6701.T rose 2.3% while Fujitsu 6702.T gained 0.5%.
On the other hand, Murata Manufacturing 6981.T , a Huawei
supplier, extended losses, falling 0.7%. Murata has plunged 19%
so far this month.
"I think Japanese share markets will remain capped for now,
given the perception that (they) will be susceptible to foreign
demand and vulnerable to trade tensions," said Hiroyuki Ueno,
senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management.
Investors also looked to Japan's GDP data due on Monday,
which is expected to show the country's economy contracted
slightly in the first three months of this year. Signs of deeper
weakness could prod the government to delay a sales tax hike
slated for October.
Japanese corporate earnings have been weaker than
expectations as the economy has stagnated.
A case in point was brokerage shares index .ISECU.T , which
hit its lowest level since August 2016 before recovering to
positive territory.
Industry leader Nomura Holdings 8604.T fell 0.6 percent to
hit near-three-year low.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)