* Weak U.S. data hits economy view, sparks profit-taking
* Hedge funds' unwinding of risk assets weighs - analysts
* JAL climbs on hopes of bailout announcement on Thursday
* Banks gain as investors buy domestic demand sectors
By Elaine Lies TOKYO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average slid below 10,000 to a three-week closing low on Thursday as a strong yen hurt exporter shares and weak U.S. data renewed worry about global economic growth, sparking a broad sell-off on Wall Street. Japan Airlines rose nearly 3 percent on news that the transport minister will brief about plans to revive Japan Airlines Corp after the close on Thursday, with investors keen to see if the government will announce the use of public funds to bail out the struggling carrier.
Analysts said that the unexpected fall in U.S. sales of newly-built single family homes in September, which followed a fall in consumer confidence data, raised worry about third quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data, due out on Thursday.
"If GDP is lower than the market expects, this will inevitably raise worries about the outlook for the next quarter and whether the pace of recovery will slow still further," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities.
But other market players warned about making too much of the data, noting it was equally likely that investors such as hedge funds were simply using it as an excuse to take profits after recent gains and ahead of their business year-end in November.
"There are a lot of hedge funds facing their earnings season, many of whom are looking to sell while asset prices are still relatively high," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities.
"The slide is likely to come to an end relatively soon and this will be a temporary weakness. But given that October and November usually see a lot of selling, it's hard to say for sure."
In active trade, the benchmark Nikkei lost 1.8 percent or 183.95 points to 9,891.10, its lowest close since Oct 8, while the broader Topix fell 0.7 percent to 882.26.
The S&P 500 Index slid 2 percent for its fourth straight day of losses. Sales of newly built single-family homes unexpectedly fell 3.6 percent last month, according to a Commerce Department report. Separately, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed demand for mortgages has fallen for the past three weeks.
EYES ON JAL, EARNINGS
With Japan's earnings season in full gear, companies posting weaker-than-expected results were hit.
Hino Motors sank 8.7 percent to 337 yen after the truck and bus maker said its operating loss for the year ending in March would be 12 billion yen, worse than analysts' forecasts of a 7.3 billion yen loss.
NEC Electronics Corp fell 8.3 percent to 688 yen after it reported a 15.5 billion yen loss in July-September, far bigger than the same period a year earlier, and cut its annual outlook on weaker sales of its cutting-edge system chips.
Among the slew of companies reporting after the close were Sharp Corp, NEC and Nintendo Co Ltd.
But exporters lost ground. Chip-tester maker Advantest Corp tumbled 6.6 percent to 2,065 yen and electronics components maker TDK Corp lost 2.3 percent to 5,020 yen.
The dollar was trading around 90.37 yen, down 0.4 percent and retreating from a more than one-month high above 92 yen hit earlier in the week. Investors fret about a stronger yen as it eats into exporters' profits when they are repatriated.
JAL rose 2.7 percent to 115 yen after earlier rising nearly 10 percent. A government-appointed task force is set to submit a restructuring plan for JAL to Transport Minister Seiji Maehara on Thursday, with Maehara set to hold a news conference shortly after the close.
Banks gained as well, helping brake the market's fall, as investors picked up sectors dependent on domestic demand while they sold exporter shares, a trader at a Japanese brokerage said.
The trader added the solid earnings announced on Wednesday by Nomura Holdings also likely helped boost hopes for a recovery in earnings for the financial sector.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's top bank, jumped 4.5 percent to 488 yen. Mizuho Financial Group climbed 4.1 percent to 179 yen and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group rose 1.6 percent to 3,150 yen.
Trade was extremely active, with 2.6 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section compared to last week's daily average of 1.9 billion.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones by nearly 3 to 1. (Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)