* Profit-taking sets in after Nikkei's 8.6 pct jump last week
* Trade subdued ahead of Japan's financial year-end
* G20, BOJ tankan survey and US jobs data waited
By Rika Otsuka
TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average slipped
1.8 percent on Monday after jumping 8.6 percent the previous
week, with banking shares such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
<8306.T> falling on downbeat comments from U.S. bank executives.
Shares in FDK Corp <6955.T> surged 14 percent after Fujitsu
Ltd <6702.T> said it would lift its stake in the loss-making
electronic parts maker to 64.4 percent from 39.6 percent.
But trade was subdued ahead of the end of Japan's financial
year on Tuesday, when most of the nation's financial institutions
close their books.
"Market players have started to find it hard to chase prices
higher after such a sharp rally, as few believe economic
fundamentals are improving to that extent," said Hajime Nakajima,
deputy general manager of the sales department at Cosmo
Securities.
Government data showed on Monday that Japanese industrial
output fell 9.4 percent in February as weak global demand weighs
on the recession-hit economy, although factories forecast a small
rise in production in the coming months. []
The benchmark Nikkei fell 151.91 points to 8,475.06. The
average is still 20 percent above its 26-year closing low of
7,054.98 hit on March 10.
The broader Topix <> slid 1.9 percent to 808.62. The
Topix surged 7.8 percent last week, posting its biggest weekly
gain since 1997.
"It's perfectly understandable that investors prefer to book
profits as a raft of important economic events is coming up this
week," said Tsutomu Yamada, market analyst at Kabu.com
Securities.
"But fears of a plunge in Nikkei below the 7,000 mark are
gone thanks to global governments' steps to help economies,"
Yamada said. "Investors are actually looking for opportunities to
hunt bargains if share prices slide further."
Leaders of the Group of 20 developed and developing nations
meet on April 2 and the market will be watching to see what
measures they will discuss to fight the global economic crisis.
[].
The Bank of Japan tankan quarterly corporate survey is also
due on Wednesday and the U.S. government's monthly employment
report comes out on Friday.
Trade fell off, with some 913 million shares traded on the
Tokyo Exchange's first section compared with last week's morning
average of 1.06 billion.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones, 988 to 591.
BANKS SUFFER
Wall Street fell on Friday as investors booked profits in the
wake of a recent upsurge and bank shares were hit after bank
executives indicated March had been a tougher month for the
industry than the previous two. []
Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's top lender,
fell 4.9 percent to 501 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group
<8316.T> third-ranked bank, was down 4.4 percent at 3,670 yen.
Mizuho Financial Group fell 6 percent to 203 yen after
Goldman Sachs cut its rating and added it to its "conviction
sell" list from "neutral" citing chances of higher credit costs
and equity mark-to-market losses.
Exporters were also hit by profit-taking. Canon Inc <7751.T>
slipped 3 percent to 2,930 yen and Sony Corp <6758.T> fell 4.3
percent to 2,130 yen.
Shares of Nitto Denko Corp <6988.T> fell 6.2 percent to 2,030
yen after the electronics materials maker cut its net profit
forecast by 91 percent on Friday, citing special losses for
restructuring in North America, East Asia and Japan.
[]
FDK rose 14.4 percent to 159 yen.
(Reporting by Rika Otsuka; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
