// TOKYO, Sept 13 - Tokyo stocks extended losses in afternoon trade on Friday after a dive on Wall Street fuelled profit-taking in blue chips, sending the benchmark Nikkei average down more than two percent.
Kyocera Corp , the world's biggest maker of ceramic packages for computer chips, slid 4.34 percent to 8,160 yen by 0425 GMT, underlining a retreat for major high-tech issues following a 2.7 percent decline on the U.S. Nasdaq index .
Data showing a sharp increase in the U.S. current account deficit and a worrisome jump in the number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits last week weighed on Wall Street and fanned concerns about Japan's economic outlook.
"America's economy is looking weak and I think the Nasdaq will fall again later today," said Ken Masuda, senior dealer of equities at Shinko Securities.
"I don't think the Nikkei will try 9,000 today, but if and when it does the next target is 8,800," he said.
The Nikkei 225 share average was down 2.33 percent or 219.64 points at 9,195.59. It tumbled at one point nearly three percent to 9,156.79 to fill in most of a gap between 9,150 and 9,210 left on the daily chart when it jumped two percent on Monday.
The capital-weighted TOPIX index fell 1.89 percent or 17.36 points to 903.27, poised to snap a four-day winning streak during which it gained three percent. Both the Nikkei and the TOPIX hit 19-year lows last week.
In the auto sector, industry leader Toyota Motor Corp lost 1.32 percent to 2,980 yen, succumbing to profit-taking after a six-day winning streak in which it rose nine percent thanks in part to a fall in the yen.
Pressured by the weak U.S. data, the dollar slipped a tad below 120 yenafter hitting a one-month high earlier in the week. A softer yen is a boon for Toyota and other exporters since it inflates overseas profits when converted back to yen.
The Nikkei is expected to find considerable support at the 9,000 mark amid hopes for economic measures to rein in deflation and accelerate bad-loan disposal expected to be drafted by the government later this month.
Even so, traders are wary of holding long positions ahead of a three-day weekend in Japan, and given uncertainty about possible U.S. military action in Iraq.