* Nikkei breaks below 9,300 for first time since Sept 15
* Sharp, Nintendo drop after earnings disappoint
* Eyes remain on FOMC and currency reactions -analysts
* Market edgy before slew of earnings including Honda, Sony
By Chikafumi Hodo and Aiko Hayashi
TOKYO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei fell nearly 2 percent to a seven-week low on Friday as disappointing earnings hit shares of companies such as Sharp, with downward momentum accelerating after the index breached a key technical support level.
Investors were keen to lighten long positions ahead of the weekend and before a blizzard of earnings reports due after the close on Friday and a highly anticipated Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting on Nov. 2-3.
"There hasn't been a change in investors' wait-and-see stance ahead of the next week's important events, namely, the Fed's meeting and the U.S. mid-term election, and earnings-related trades in individual stocks continue," said Yumi Nishimura, deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.
"But the Nikkei broke below the key support level of around 9,300, partly due to heavy sales of futures at the open, and technically, more downward pressure now looks to be in store."
By the midday break, the benchmark Nikkei fell 1.7 percent or 159.42 points to 9,206.61, after falling as low as 9,194.25, its lowest since Sept. 10.
The broader Topix lost 1.1 percent to 805.22.
Traders said foreign brokerages could be actively selling in the futures market on behalf of foreign hedge funds and other institutions.
The yen advanced 0.5 percent to 80.63 to the dollar, coming closer to a 15-year high of 80.41 yen reached earlier in the week and a postwar historic high of 79.75 yen marked in April 1995.
Technical sentiment towards the Nikkei faltered as it dropped below the closely watched support of 9,300 for the first time since Sept. 15, traders said, the day when share prices jumped sharply after Japanese authorities intervened in the currency market for the first time in six years.
Around 9,300 is where a narrow band of both the upper and lower level of the Nikkei's daily Ichimoku cloud comes in. Its 65-day moving average, now at 9,368, was another solid support, one analyst said, as it had served as support for the past month.
Analysts said the Nikkei could now test 9,000, which was last broken on Sept. 8, though some said further losses below 9,000 may be unlikely given the generally solid corporate earnings.
EARNINGS IN FULL SWING
Despite sharp falls in the overall market, investors will be cautious about selling too aggressively head of a slew of results scheduled after the close that include Sony Corp, Honda Motor, Panasonic and Nomura Holdings.
Sharp shares lost 5.6 percent to 797 yen after the electronics maker lowered its full-year earnings forecast closer to market expectations and reported that its quarterly profit fell 24 percent, hurt by sluggish demand for liquid crystal display panels and a stronger yen.
Shares of Nintendo slid 2.8 percent to 20,700 yen after its quarterly profit halved, hit by a strong yen and slowing sales of game machines, underscoring a steady decline in earnings that some analysts warn could stretch well into next year.
In contrast, shares of companies that had bullish earnings outlooks gained.
Hitachi Ltd rose 4.3 percent to 365 yen after Japan's biggest electronics conglomerate hiked its full-year profit outlook by 21 percent beyond market expectations on improvements in most of its business segments, including industrial systems and construction machinery.
Komatsu Ltd climbed 2.7 percent to 1,990 yen after the world's No. 2 construction machine maker raised its full-year operating profit forecast above the market consensus as booming demand and price hikes are offsetting the negative impact of the rising yen.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group added 0.3 percent to 2,369 yen after the bank said on Thursday its first-half profit would be more than double a previous forecast. (Editing by Joseph Radford)