Nikkei ends down 0.4 pct, economic worry weighs

*Nikkei down 0.4 pct, exporters lead fall on economic outlook

*Bank shares rise ahead of Lehman announcement

*Energy stocks decline on oil price fall (Adds stocks and comments)

By Taiga Uranaka

TOKYO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average fell 0.4 percent on Wednesday, led lower by blue-chip exporters like Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on concerns about the global economic outlook and a stronger yen.

A fall in oil prices dented energy shares including oil and gas explorer Inpex Holdings (1605.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and trading house Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

But banks including industry leader Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) climbed ahead of Lehman Brothers' (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) release of its strategy plans and quarterly results later in the day.

"The market was held down by continued worries about the global economic outlook, and there are also concerns about the financial industry (other than Lehman), including AIG (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)," said Kazutaka Oshima, chief strategist at Rakuten Securities.

He was referring to American International Group, the world's biggest insurer, which also has substantial exposure to the mortgage market.

The benchmark Nikkei average .N225 ended down 54.02 points at 12,346.63 after falling as much as 1.9 percent earlier.

The broader Topix , which is heavily influenced by large-cap stocks like banks, rose 0.1 percent to 1,192.38.

BANKS UP

The market's attention was focused on Lehman after the U.S. investment bank's shares plunged more than 45 percent to a decade low on funding worries.

Japanese bank shares rose ahead of Lehman's announcement in what market participants said was unwinding of short positions - bets that bank shares would fall - as some feared a repeat of the huge rally in financial stocks on Monday after the U.S. government took over troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Mitsubishi UFJ rose 3.2 percent to 867 yen and No.2 bank Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) climbed 2.8 percent to 470,000 yen.

"There is no telling what will come from the Lehman announcement. Some may be preparing for good news as such expectations were raised by the fact that the bank brought its timing forward," said Yukio Takahashi, market analyst at Shinko Securities.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported in the afternoon that state-run Korea Development Bank [KDB.UL] was seeking a controlling stake in Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for about $6 billion. Yonhap cited a high ranking KDB official. [ID:nSEL000248]

Inpex ended down 2.7 percent at 988,000 yen after U.S. crude oil futures dropped more than $3 on Tuesday. [O/R]

Mitsubishi fell 2.7 percent to 2,520 yen, while Mitsui Co (8031.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shed 1.9 percent to 1,531 yen. Trading houses are major dealers in energy and also have stakes in oil and gas projects.

Among high-tech exporters, Sony (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 2.8 percent to 3,820 yen and Canon declined 3.9 percent to 4,460 yen.

Trade picked up on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 2.3 billion shares changing hands, compared with last week's daily average of 1.9 billion.

Advancing stocks outpaced declining ones by 919 to 708. (Editing by Hugh Lawson)