* Nikkei's immediate support seen at 9,755
* Strong yen hurts exporters
By Ayai Tomisawa
TOKYO, May 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei stock average fell nearly 2 percent on Friday as a rout in oil and commodity prices pummelled resources stocks and sent the yen higher, hurting shares of exporters, while caution ahead of U.S. job data also prompted profit-taking.
A surge in weekly claims for U.S. jobless benefits has helped spook the market after a three-day holiday.
Tokyo stocks had rallied on Monday with the Nikkei closing above the closely watched 10,000 mark for the first time since the March 11 earthquake on optimism of a boost for equities after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces.
"Such hopes were betrayed by poor U.S. jobless claims and the strong yen while we were on holiday," said Kenichi Hirano, a strategist at Tachibana Securities.
"Investors have not turned into sellers completely, but even if they want to buy back, they will not probably buy above 9,800."
The benchmark Nikkei was down 1.8 percent at 9,822.61 after hitting an intraday low of 9,782.66. The broader Topix shed 1.3 percent to 854.55.
"Investors covered their short positions early this week, so the opposite trading pattern is seen today," said Yumi Nishimura, a senior market analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Analysts said the Nikkei is expected to trade in a 9,700-9,850 range on Friday, while immediate support is seen at its 5-day moving average of 9,755.
The dollar fell below 80 yen for the first time since March 18, the day central banks intervened to weaken the Japanese currency after it hit a record high. The pair fell to a 7-week low of 79.57 yen Thursday, before trading at 80.44 at the midday break.
Exporters were hit, with Toyota Motor falling 2.6 percent to 3,205 yen, Honda Motor dropping 5.0 percent to 3,065 yen and Panasonic shedding 2.5 percent to 1,000 yen.
Commodity stocks underperformed after both gold and oil prices tumbled on Thursday. Inpex tumbled 6.0 percent to 564,000 yen after oil dived as much as 10 percent, with U.S. crude back under $100 a barrel.
Trading houses were lower, with Mitsubishi Corp shedding 2.8 percent to 2,144 yen and Mitsui & Co slipping 3.5 percent to 1,404 yen.
Sony Corp fell 2.8 percent to 2,251 yen after the company revealed hackers had stolen data on another 25 million users of its PC games system in a second massive security breach for the consumer electronics giant. [ID:nN02249883]
Volume was moderate, with 951 million shares changing hands on the Tokyo stock exchange's main board and the day's total may be slightly higher than last week's average daily volume of 1.73 billion. (Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)