* Caution over euro zone banks cap market
* Olympus tumbles as much as 17 pct after CEO sacked
* Softbank erases gains after iPhone order glitch
By Hideyuki Sano and Lisa Twaronite
TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Nikkei stock average slipped from a one-month high on Friday, as weak earning results from JPMorgan Chase & Co highlighted worries that strains in the global banking system could hamper growth.
Camera maker Olympus fired its British CEO over his
management style, sending its shares plunging 18 percent in
furious activity, while Suzuki Motor seesawed in
volatile trade before ending flat as its spat with biggest
shareholder Volkswagen
The course of the market still largely depends on whether Europe can fix its spiralling debt and banking crisis with many players now looking to the Group of 20 financial policy makers' meeting at the weekend.
"After Slovakia voted for the bail-out package, the market is focusing on the fact that that alone won't solve the problems. Unless you forcefully recapitalise banks, they won't resume lending," said Kakuya Kojoh, manager of securities department at Nissan Century Securities.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor's reminded investors that the region's problems are far from over, downgrading the long-term credit rating of Spain late on Thursday by one notch to AA-minus from AA with a negative outlook, due to weak growth, tightening fiscal conditions and high private sector debt.
Selling from European investors as well as profit-taking ahead of weekend pushed down share prices with concerns about banks' exposure to euro zone debt still capping investors appetite.
The Nikkei shed 0.9 percent to 8,747.96 in relatively thin trade, although it managed to stay above its 25-day moving average of 8,645. It hit a one-month high of 8,854 on Thursday.
The broader Topix index declined 1.3 percent to 748.81.
The Olympus news managed to drag on the overall market, and trade in the company shot up to nearly 20 times as much as its 30-day average.
Former CEO Michael Woodford had told Reuters in May he would cut jobs to achieve his mid-term cost targets.
"Investors appear to have sold futures after the Olympus news, although it's clearly specific to one company and should not have a big long-term impact on the overall market," said Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
Suzuki Motor Corp ended down 3 points at 1,656 yen after it accused Volkswagen of breaching a partnership pact by withholding hybrid technology it promised to share, pushing their two-year-old alliance to the brink of disintegration.
Softbank Corp erased early gains and dropped 2.7 percent to 2,478 yen, after the mobile phone operator temporarily stopped accepting contract applications when heavier-than-expected applications for the new iPhone caused system troubles. Apple Inc's iPhone 4S went on sale in Japan and other countries on Friday.
Rival KDDI Corp , which also started distributing the iPhone, rose 1.0 percent to 585,000 yen.
Fast Retailing added 3.1 percent to 13,490 yen and was the fifth-heaviest traded issue by turnover, as it prepared to kick off a high-profile U.S. expansion by opening a new flagship store in Manhattan on Friday to anchor its push to rely less on its home market.
JPMorgan Chase & Co was the biggest drag on the Dow Jones industrial average after the second-largest U.S. lender reported a drop in its third-quarter net profit, fanning worries that the U.S. growth will remain weak.
Some 1.56 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board, below Thursday's total of 1.58 billion shares and last week's daily average of 1.86 billion. Nearly seven shares declined for each one that advanced. (Editing by Edwina Gibbs)