* Exporters such as Kyocera edge lower
* Rise in defensive and financial shares lends support
* Fast Retailing surges on jump in same-store sales
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged up 0.2 percent on Monday on gains in bank shares and retailers after touching a 10-week low on concern over the fragility of the U.S. economic recovery.
A surge in shares of Fast Retailing, which said on Friday that same-store sales at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain in Japan in September jumped 31.6 percent from a year earlier, helped pull the Nikkei into positive territory.
Advances in banking shares also lifted the market. Shares in lenders have recently been battered by worries that lenders may come out with share offerings in the face of a global regulatory push for banks to carry bigger capital buffers.
But exporters such as Kyocera and Honda Motor retreated on lingering concern that the yen's recent strength may eat into their overseas profits, while construction firms extended their losses after falling in the past few weeks.
"While the (U.S. jobs) data was bad and optimism about the U.S. economy may have receded, I do not think market players think that this means that the outlook for the U.S. economy is ruined," said Hideyuki Ishiguro, supervisor at Okasan Securities' investment strategy department. "I think it just means market sentiment has returned to neutral for the time being," Ishiguro added.
The Nikkei was up 17.55 points or 0.2 percent at 9,749.42, after falling as low as 9,713.92, its lowest since July 23.
The broader Topix fell 0.1 percent to 873.44.
The Nikkei fell 5.2 percent last week, its worst weekly loss in about three months. It has fallen below trendline support drawn from its March trough near 7,021 and through its July low near 9,050, and on Friday the benchmark index dropped below the bottom of the cloud on daily Ichimoku charts.
Some analysts say the next downside target may be 9,500, with a break below that opening the way for a drop towards its July low of 9,050.
Fast Retailing climbed 12.8 percent 13,290 yen after it reported the huge jump in sales in September, helped by the onset of cold weather and by a five-day weekend. The retailer subindex added 1.5 percent.
Top bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group climbed 3.2 percent to 459 yen, while the banking sector subindex climbed 1.5 percent.
Among exporters, Kyocera fell 1 percent to 7,770 yen, Nikon dropped 4.5 percent to 1,481 yen and Honda Motor dipped 1.3 percent to 2,635 yen. But Toyota Motor Corp rose 0.6 percent to 3,400 yen.
The yen stood at 89.95 yen to the dollar. It hit an eight-month high of 88.23 yen to the dollar last Monday, stirring worries about the impact on Japanese exporters.
The head of Toyota Motor Corp on Friday called the current dollar-yen rate "very tough", and Honda Motor Co Chief Executive Takanobu Ito said on Thursday a dollar below 90 yen was "too painful". (Reporting by Masayuki Kitano; Editing by Hugh Lawson)