Nikkei seesaws down as trading houses, property duel

                                
 * Property shares slump after peer's collapse
                                
 * Trading houses surge on oil's climb, bolster Nikkei
                                
 * Bargain hunting below 13,000 providing support
  (Adds stocks, details)
                                
 By Elaine Lies
                                
 TOKYO, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average lost
0.3 percent on Thursday, caught in a tug-of-war between property
shares slumping on the collapse of peer Urban Corp <8868.T> and
trading houses surging on strong oil prices.
                                
 Banks slid in the wake of growing credit worries and bad news
for their U.S. peers -- including a ratings cut on four major
investment banks -- while exporters were shaky on worries about
the economy as the details of Wednesday's Japanese gross domestic
product data sank in. [ID:nT110289]
                                
 Oil jumped $3 a barrel on Wednesday after a U.S. government
report showed declines in fuel and crude inventories, and
continued to rise on Thursday <CLc1>, but despite this shipping
firms powered higher after gains on a measure of freight costs.
                                
 "We're seeing a real surge in trading houses, which are
rising both on higher oil prices and a sense that they'd become
good value after heavy selling recently," said Nagayuki
Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
He said the real estate sector was weak after Urban's
failure, the biggest by a listed Japanese company in six years
and the third by a mid-sized property firm in recent months, but
he added that there were no signs of a major slide. [ID:nT92234]
                                
 "Certainly there's concern about property firms with smaller
capitalisation, but the bigger developers are still relatively
solid," he said.
Market players said investors were trying to come to terms
with Wednesday's GDP data, which despite coming in as predicted
showed Japan's economy contracted in the second quarter at its
sharpest rate in seven years.
                                
 "Even though the GDP matched expectations, the fact that it
showed falling consumption and weaker exports has forced people
to realise once again that things really aren't good with the
economy," said Takashi Ushio, head of the investment strategy
division of Marusan Securities.
                                
 The benchmark Nikkei lost 39.16 points to 12,983.89 while the
broader Topix <.TOPX> was down 0.6 percent to 1,239.40.
                                
 PROPERTY PUMMELLED, TRADERS TOUGH
                                
 Investors dumped stocks in Japanese property after Urban's
collapse fanned fears others might follow.
                                
 Urban was the latest in a string of Japanese real estate
firms to fold as banks rein in lending to small and medium-sized
developers seen at risk as the the world's No.2 economy flirts
with recession.
                                
 The real estate subindex <.IRLTY.T> shed 3.5 percent to
become the biggest loser among the subindexes, with apartment
developer Joint Co <8874.T> losing 18 percent to 196 yen and
Creed Corp <8888.T> shedding 11.8 percent to 75,100 yen.
                                
 Even larger firms suffered. Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd <8802.T>
slipped 3.3 percent to 2,350 yen and Mitsui Fudosan <8801.T>, the
largest property developer, shed 2.8 percent to 2,255 yen.
                                
 But the market slide was braked by a surge in trading houses,
with Mitsubishi Corp <8058.T>, climbing 2.1 percent to 2,880 yen.
It was followed by peer Mitsui & Co <8031.T>, which rose 3
percent to 1,817 yen.
                                
 Shippers sailed higher as the Baltic Dry Index <.BADI> broke
an extended losing streak on Wednesday, rising 1.5 percent.
                                
 Mitsui O.S.K. Lines <9104.T> rose 3.4 percent to 1,277 yen
while Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd <9107.T> gained 3.5 percent to
760 yen and Nippon Yusen <9101.T>, Japan's largest shipper, rose
1.7 percent to 875 yen.
                                
 Large banks slid, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
<8306.T> in the lead with losses of 2.3 percent to 822 yen after
UnionBanCal Corp <UB.N> said a $3 billion bid by Japan's top
lender for the 35 percent of the U.S. bank the Japanese company
does not already own is too low. [ID:nN13394562]
                                
 Exporters edged down as well, with Canon Inc <7751.T> down
1.3 percent to 5,140 yen and Sony <6758.T> down 1.4 percent to
4,150 yen.
Trade was light on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with
898 million shares changing hands, compared with last week's
morning average of 1 billion. Declining stocks outpaced advancing
ones by more than 2 to 1.
 (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Hugh Lawson)