Nikkei falls on US slide, Yamaha Motor slumps

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Nikkei share average slid 1.23 percent on Monday, as investors sold Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. and others after U.S. shares were battered during Wall Street's biggest loss in nearly three years.

Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd. slid more than 7 percent after reports the Japanese government was investigating the motorcycle maker on suspicion it had exported to China, without permission, helicopters that could have military uses.

Investors sold tech-related firms after earnings from U.S. peers failed to meet market expectations and on concerns about higher oil prices, said Masaru Ueda, head of investment strategy at Marusan Securities.

"I think expectations for U.S. (tech) earnings were too high. But then you had the rise of geopolitical risks ... and that has weighed a lot on the market's improving sentiment," he said.

"If oil prices hadn't risen, this would have ended as just being a case of overly strong expectations, but things have taken something of a downward turn."

The Nikkei was down 1.23 percent, or 193.32 points, at 15,503.37 as of 0101 GMT. The broader TOPIX index was down 0.90 percent at 1,609.74.

U.S. crude oil futures held above $68 a barrel as tension over Iran's nuclear program continued to stoke fears of supply disruptions.

High oil prices can crimp consumer spending and eat into corporate profits, but they also boost shares in oil firms.

Teikoku Oil Co. Ltd. advanced 2.4 percent to 1,638 yen and other energy firms rose.

Yamaha lost 7.1 percent to 2,700 yen while Matsushita, the maker of Panasonic brand goods, fell 2.2 percent to 2,400 yen.

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