* Nikkei falls 1 pct despite strong output data
* Nikkei falls towards 25-day average, ends above it
* Trading houses extend losses as oil falls further
* Battery maker GS Yuasa slides after downgrade
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, June 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 1 percent on Monday, erasing earlier gains, as trading firms such as Mitsubishi Corp slid on lower oil prices and Daiwa Securities tumbled on a share sale announcement. GS Yuasa Corp slid 10.6 percent after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the car battery maker with a "sell" rating and 700 yen target price, saying it expects strong growth expectations to subside, while similar environmentally friendly shares also lost ground. The Nikkei's retreat came despite Japanese industrial output jumping 5.9 percent in May, matching April's biggest gain in half a century. It fell short of a 7.0 percent rise forecast by analysts polled by Reuters, however, and the outlook is seen murky with the effects of government stimulus expected to wear off.
"The figures in some ways were a little less than expected overall, and blue-chip shares are strangely weak," said Hiroaki Osakabe, a fund manager with Chibagin Asset Management.
Some analysts said predictions for May had been over-optimistic but others said that overall the figures remained encouraging and pointed to economic recovery. "Certainly there's still some concern about the future, but the Bank of Japan tankan later this week is likely to confirm that the economy is recovering, just the way the industrial output data has," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
"Industrial output may have shown a bit of weakness in terms of capital spending, but cars and so on are pretty strong. There are signs of light."
The benchmark Nikkei shed 93.92 points to 9,783.47, erasing morning gains, while the broader Topix lost 1.2 percent to 915.32.
The Nikkei has taken a breather from a three-month rally that buoyed it to an eight-month intraday high of 10,170.82 earlier in June but is still on track for its best quarter since 1995, having risen around 22 percent so far in the April-June quarter.
Still, a possibly negative technical signal emerged when the Nikkei's five-day moving average broke below its 25-day moving average, a move known as the "Death Cross."
But market analysts said if the Nikkei manages to hold above its 25-day moving average, now 9,743, it should be able to keep from falling.
"Closing or breaking below this would signal some weakness ahead," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
OIL FALLS, TRADING HOUSES SINK
With investors looking ahead to the Bank of Japan's quarterly "tankan" survey of business sentiment on Wednesday, trade was thin and centred more on individual shares than broader sectors, though resource shares took a battering as crude oil prices fell.
Oil fell towards $68 a barrel as an easing of tensions in energy-rich Nigeria prompted some investors to take profits, with U.S. crude for August delivery down 59 cents at $68.57.
Mitsubishi Corp lost 3 percent to 1,759 yen, Mitsui & Co fell 3.5 percent to 1,121 yen and Itochu Corp lost 2 percent to 654 yen.
GS Yuasa's tumble may have been set off by the brokerage downgrade, but analysts said a correction in it and a cohort of shares including Meidensha Corp considered "environmentally friendly" that had posted sharp gains until recently was probably overdue.
GS Yuasa, which among other batteries makes lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, fell to 843 yen while Meidensha, which makes water-treatment control systems, fell 11.8 percent to 532 yen.
Daiwa Securities slid 12.1 percent to 587 yen after saying on Friday it would raise about $2.5 billion in its first share sale in 20 years as it looks to expand overseas and bolster its domestic retail operations.
Takeda Pharmaceutical fell 2.4 percent to 3,700 yen after Japan's largest drugmaker said its key diabetes drug had failed to get approval from U.S. regulators.
Some shares managed to buck the trend.
Takashimaya and Isetan Mitukoshi posted gains, which analysts said was due to the retail sector lagging others during the Nikkei's recent rally.
Takashimaya rose 4.5 percent to 751 yen and Isetan Mitukoshi gained 2.2 percent to 972 yen.
Trading volume was in line with last week's daily average, with 2.2 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing shares by about 2 to 1. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Michael Watson)