* Nikkei slips after rising on burst of short-covering
* Investors nervous before U.S. jobs data, Shanghai open
* Daiwa, SMFG fall on Daiwa plans to buy SMFG banking stake
* Support for Nikkei near 10,150, then 10,0000
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average edged
down 0.2 percent in thin, see-saw trade on Friday, with investor
reluctance to buy ahead of key U.S. jobs data outweighing
short-covering on better than expected U.S. sales data.
Daiwa Securities Group <8601.T> fell more than 5 percent, and
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group <8316.T> inched down 0.5 percent
after news Daiwa plans to buy SMFG's stake in their investment
banking joint venture. []
Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma <4506.T> tumbled 5.6 percent to 968
yen after Mizuho Securities said it was "somewhat apprehensive"
about the drugmaker's plan to buy U.S. drugmaker Sepracor Inc
<SEPR.O>. The stock had ended up 1.2 percent on Thursday after
Dainippon announced the acquisition.
The benchmark Nikkei <> lost 16.54 points to 10,198.10
after moving in a tight range of fewer than 100 points.
"Investors are really waiting to see what happens with the
jobs data," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho
Securities.
"Even the U.S. retail sales figures aren't providing that
much support, because there's doubt about whether this can be
sustained."
The broader Topix <> lost 0.5 percent to 938.12.
Wall Street gained after August retail sales data beat
expectations and eased concerns about the economy, complemented
by a survey showing improvement in the U.S. services sector.
[]
U.S. non-farm payrolls are forecast to have fallen by 225,000
in August, after dropping 247,000 in July. The unemployment rate
is seen edging up to 9.5 percent from 9.4 percent.
A U.S. labour market report on Wednesday showed more
private-sector job losses in August than forecast.
[]
The Nikkei broke below its 25-day moving average this week,
but analysts said they see support around 10,150, roughly the
level of its August low.
Should this break, the next support is at 10,000, which is
both a key psychological barrier and just above where the
Nikkei's 75-day moving average comes in, as well as the bottom of
the Nikkei's Ichimoku cloud, said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager
at Chibagin Asset Management.
"Should we break this level, sentiment in the market could
turn poor," he said.
DAIWA, GOLD, CARMAKERS
Daiwa Securities shed 5.2 percent to 513 yen and SMFG was
down 0.5 percent to 3,830 yen after the source said the two are
in talks to end their joint venture, Daiwa Securities SMBC.
Daiwa Securities, Japan's No. 2 brokerage, owns 60 percent of
the venture, while SMFG, Japan's No. 3 bank, owns the rest. Daiwa
will likely pay about 200 billion yen ($2.2 billion) for SMFG's
stake, the Nikkei business daily reported.
"Daiwa has been depending on Sumitomo Mitsui a lot to win
mandates for various businesses, and now it is going to lose that
tie. Daiwa SMBC played a key role for Daiwa Securities Group,"
said Wataru Kasatani, a financial analyst for MDAM Asset
Management in Tokyo.
But Dowa Holdings Co <5714.T>, a nonferrous metals
manufacturer, and its peers climbed as gold <XAU=> futures
remained near $1,000 after the previous session's wave of
safe-haven buying on renewed economic uncertainties. []
Dowa Holdings advanced 1.7 percent to 552 yen, while Sumitomo
Metal Mining Co <5713.T> gained 1.2 percent to 1,479 yen.
Shares of exporters such as electronics parts maker Kyocera
Corp <6971.T> rose after better-than-expected U.S. retail sales
data lifted Wall Street. []
Kyocera climbed 1.5 percent to 7,920 yen, while Canon Inc
<7751.T> advanced 1.5 percent to 3,500 yen and Honda Motor Co
<7267.T> edged up 0.7 percent to 2,860 yen.
Trade was light on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with
861 million shares changing hands, below last week's morning
average of 908 million.
Declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones by more than 2 to
1.
(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
