* Nikkei falls 0.8 pct, after opening higher
* Nikkei on course to book lowest close in 26 years
* Automakers fall amid worries about GM's future
* Takeda awash with sell orders after FDA asks for more data
* Inpex, other oil-linked shares gain on higher oil prices
By Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, March 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.8
percent on Monday, after booking a four-month closing low the
previous trading day, hurt by automakers such as Honda Motor
<7267.T> amid worries about the fate of General Motors <GM.N>.
If the benchmark were to end at its current level of
7,115.19, it would be the lowest close in about 26 years, though
market participants have said buying by what they believe to be
public pension funds has been supporting when it approaches
7,000.
Shares of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co <4502.T>, Japan's largest
drugmaker, were hit by a glut of sell orders, after the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration asked for more data to complete a
review of a key diabetes drug candidate. Indicated prices showed
it down by its daily limit. []
But higher oil prices helped buoy energy-linked shares such
as oil and gas field developer Inpex <1605.T>.
"Worries about the financial system haven't gone away. Some
hedge funds seem to have been shifting money to assets such as
gold from equities," said Hiroaki Kuramochi, chief equity
marketing officer at Tokai Tokyo Securities.
Investors were keen to see the outcome of a meeting between
the U.S. auto task force, GM, Chrysler and officials from the
United Auto Workers in Detroit this week after auditors raised
doubts about GM's ability to survive outside bankruptcy. []
"It's hard to pick up automakers as nobody really knows what
is going to happen with GM and as nothing concrete had been
unveiled," Kuramochi said.
The benchmark Nikkei <> shed 57.91 points in light trade
to 7,115.19, after opening higher. If it closes the day below
7,162.90 hit on Oct. 27, it would book its lowest finish in about
26 years.
The broader Topix <> slipped 1.4 percent to 711.17.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 0.5 percent on
Friday, even after a government report showing the U.S.
unemployment rate rose last month to 8.1 percent, its highest
since December 1983, as 651,000 jobs were cut. []
AUTOMAKERS FALL
Automakers fell as Honda Motor <7267.T> shed 3.3 percent to
2,080 yen and Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> slid 2.4 percent to
2,830 yen.
Other exporters also declined on the gloomy U.S. jobs data.
Canon Inc <7751.T> slipped 1.4 percent to 2,160 yen.
Takeda shares were awash with sell orders at 3,320 yen, down
13.1 percent from Friday's close.
Worries about the fragile health of the U.S. financial
sector and that some banks may be nationalised, weighed on
Japanese banks.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group <8306.T>, the top lender, lost
3.5 percent to 387 yen and No.2 Mizuho Financial Group <8411.T>
retreated 2.8 percent to 171 yen.
Shares of Shinsei Bank <8303.T>, a struggling midsize
Japanese lender, tumbled 7.5 percent to 74 yen after the bank
said on Friday it would issue an unspecified amount of preferred
securities to shore up its capital base. []
Among gainers, Inpex climbed 3.7 percent to 643,000 yen after
oil rose over 2 percent to near $47 a barrel on Monday, extending
the previous session's gains of over 4 percent amid optimism that
OPEC would cut output again at this month's meeting. [] <CLc1>
Showa Shell Sekiyu <5002.T>, a major oil distributor, gained
3.3 percent to 814 yen, while fellow distributor Nippon Oil
<5001.T> advanced 2.5 percent to 455 yen.
Trade was light on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with
715 million shares changing hands, below last week's morning
average of 946 million.
Declining stocks outpaced advancing ones, 987 to 568.
(Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
