* Nikkei rises 0.44%, pulls away from 7-month low
* Renewed U.S.-China trade dispute limits gains
* Shiseido soars on earnings
By Shinichi Saoshiro
TOKYO, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks rose on Friday with the Nikkei pulling away from seven-month lows as investors took heart from a bounce on Wall Street, although fresh concerns about global trade hung over sentiment.
Gains were limited by renewed worries over the U.S.-China trade dispute after a report that the White House is delaying a decision on whether to allow U.S. companies to do business with China's Huawei Technologies. Nikkei share average .N225 ended the day up 0.44% at 20,684.82.
The index slid to 21,110.76 on Tuesday, its lowest since Jan. 10, as the escalating U.S.-China trade war knocked sentiment. It was headed for a weekly loss of roughly 1.7%.
"It wasn't a very proactive rise today with equities gaining mostly in the absence of major bad news," said Soichiro Monji, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
"We should see the market finally enter its summer lull next week, although East Asian geopolitical risks, such as the unrest in Hong Kong, will bear watching," he added.
Natural gas and oil developer Inpex Corp 1605.T advanced 2.6% after its operating profit soared 40.7% in the April-June quarter. company Shiseido Co 4911.T climbed 8.1% after reporting an increase in sales for the January-June period thanks in part to steady demand in the Chinese market. Bank 8303.T slid 11.8% after private equity investor JC Flowers & Co said it will sell $700 million of the lender's shares. Film Holdings Corp 4901.T sank 6% as its net profit slid 48.2% in the April-June quarter amid a decline in the sales of its camera department. broader Topix .TOPX added 0.35% to 1,503.84. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1,209 to 837.
Of Tokyo's 33 sub-indexes, 24 ended in positive territory, led by textiles .ITXTL.T and mining .IMING.T . (Editing by Darren Schuettler)