Japan household assets dive on stock slide -BOJ

TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The value of financial assets held by Japanese households fell in July-September in its steepest drop ever, as a sharp slide in Tokyo share prices took a toll.

The Bank of Japan's flow of funds survey released on Tuesday showed that financial assets held by households fell 5.2 percent by the end of September from a year earlier to 1,467.0 trillion yen ($16.2 trillion), the lowest since 1,461.0 trillion yen at the end of September 2005.

The annual percentage decline was the largest since the central bank started gathering data in 1979.

The benchmark Nikkei share average .N225 dropped 33 percent in the year to September-end.

The Nikkei ended down 1.1 percent at 8,568.02 on Tuesday, having hit a 26-year low below 7,000 in October as the financial crisis pummelled the global economy.

Stock holdings plunged by a biggest ever 36.1 percent to 118.4 trillion yen from a year ago.

Mutual funds holdings fell 19.1 percent to 58.8 trillion yen. Bank deposits and cash rose 1.1 percent from a year earlier to 778.7 trillion yen. (Reporting by Yoshiyasu Shida; writing by Rika Otsuka)