Nikkei falls 1 pct on Wall St, yen; Elpida gains

* Exporters decline on firmer yen, Wall Street slide

* Analysts say drops mainly due to profit-taking

* Elpida gains after public-funds report

TOKYO, April 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average shed 1 percent on Wednesday, weighed down by exporters such as Canon Inc (7751.T) on a firmer yen and after a surprising drop in U.S. retail sales sent Wall Street stocks lower.

Analysts said the falls were largely due to profit-taking as the benchmark Nikkei .N225 has jumped more than 20 percent from its lows hit in early March.

But Elpida Memory (6665.T) bucked the downdraft and rose 2 percent, after public broadcaster NHK reported that Japan is preparing to use public funds to boost the capital of the PC memory maker. [ID:nT162497]

"Profit-taking of this size is natural, considering the Nikkei has gained more than 20 percent from its recent lows," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities.

"But the correction trend in the market is continuing as views on the economy had been overly pessimistic."

The benchmark Nikkei .N225 shed 87.85 points to 8,754.83, after slipping 0.9 percent the previous day for its second consecutive day of falls.

The broader Topix .TOPIX declined 1.1 percent to 834.11.

U.S. retail sales in March snapped two months of increases and sparked selling across the board on Wall Street on Tuesday, with the stocks of retailers, big manufacturers and energy companies among the casualties. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX slid 2 percent. [.N]

S&P 500 SPc1 and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 stock index futures were also down after shares in chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) fell in after-hours trade.

Intel reported strong first-quarter earnings but failed to give a clear revenue forecast for the second quarter. [ID:nN14455703]

The dollar was trading just below 99 yen JPY=, after moving above 100 yen the previous day. Investors fret over a stronger yen as it curbs exporter profits when repatriated.

Canon shed 2.9 percent to 3,020 yen, while Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) slipped 1.3 percent to 3,750 yen and Honda Motor Co (7267.T) fell 1.1 percent to 2,715 yen.

The three stocks were the top drags on the Nikkei 225.

Elpida rose 2.2 percent to 995 yen. (Reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)