Nikkei loses 1.6 pct, banks track US shares lower

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By Taiga Uranaka

TOKYO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average fell 1.6 percent on Friday, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc (8411.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other bank shares tracking falls in U.S. financial shares on growing credit woes.

Exporters such as Canon Inc (7751.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also slid, hurt by concern about the outlook for the U.S. economy and the strong yen.

"It became uncertain again whether the U.S. stock market has hit bottom. The market needs to see if subprime-related losses have been factored into share prices of U.S. financials," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.

"The Tokyo market is also being hit by selling by funds settling their accounts and closing positions ahead of the weekend."

The Nikkei average .N225 ended the morning session down 245.62 points at 15,150.68. The broader TOPIX index lost 1.96 percent to 1,469.50.

Trade volume fell with 792 million shares changing hands, down from 891 million on Thursday morning.

Decliners outpaced advancers by a ratio of more than 7 to 1.