* Nikkei briefly marks one-month intraday low of 9,316.97
* Hit by profit-taking after surprise China rate hike
* Finds support as yen uptrend slows, Shanghai off lows
By Aiko Hayashi and Chikafumi Hodo
TOKYO, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei slid more than 2 percent and briefly touched a one-month intraday low on Wednesday as investors rushed to take profits after an unexpected credit tightening in China and as shares fell on Wall Street.
The benchmark Nikkei dropped to an intraday trough of 9,316.97 -- its lowest since Sept. 15, with resource-related shares and exporters taking a hit after China for the first time in nearly three years raised interest rates, by 25 basis points.
"China's rate hike and the sharp fall on Wall Street were key factors that put a lot of downward pressure on the Nikkei," said Nagayuki Yamagishi, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
"It could fall to around 9,200 in the near term," he continued, referring to a level last seen in mid-September.
The benchmark Nikkei closed the morning session down down 207.59 points, or 2.2 percent, at 9,331.86.
The broader Topix declined 1.9 percent to 818.31.
The Nikkei came under strong downward pressure in early trade, but slowed its decline as the yen's rise against the dollar was limited and as Shanghai shares erased some of their earlier losses after opening down 1.8 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index was trading down 0.2 percent at 2,995.1 points, but above a session low of 2,942.5 and an opening level of 2,947.5.
Still, individual Japanese shares were hit, with machinery stocks and other China-linked shares declining after China's tightening.
"At the moment, the market seems to be focusing on the rate hike slowing down economic growth, and exporters and machinery stocks are moving accordingly," said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan, Inc.
"But China's move will probably start to be seen as positive in the mid- to long-term as it showed the country's strong recovery," Otani continued.
"China seems to have put a slight brake on the economy and that should lead to further growth going forward," he continued.
Resource-related stocks such as trading house Mitsui & Co also tumbled as China's move hit prices of oil, gold and base metals.
Mitsui fell 5.3 percent to 1,259 yen and fellow trader Mitsubishi Corp dropped 4.1 percent to 1,966 yen.
"Some speculative funds are seen to be temporarily pulling out their money from risk assets after China's tightening. This effect could be a factor putting pressure on shares and commodities," Mitsubishi UFJ's Yamagishi said.
Japanese banking shares slipped after U.S. bank stocks were hit on fears that Bank of America and possibly others may be forced to take back billions of dollars in mortgages that should not have been bundled into bonds.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.8 percent.
The market is keeping an eye on the Nikkei's 25-day moving average, currently at 9,494, but its supportive technical trend is not likely to change even if the Nikkei dips below that level, analysts said.
Solid support is seen at its 13-week moving average, now at 9,376, which has served as solid support since late September, and then the upper level of its daily Ichimoku cloud around 9,300, they said. (Reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Joseph Radford)