* Nikkei's immediate support seen at 9,755
* Strong yen hurts exporters
By Ayai Tomisawa
TOKYO, May 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell on Friday after Wall Street was hit by a massive sell-off in commodities as a surge in weekly claims for jobless benefits intensified worries over a faltering economic recovery.
A stronger yen hit exporters, with Toyota Motor falling 2.6 percent to 3,205 yen, Honda Motor dropping 3.9 percent to 3,100 yen and Panasonic shedding 2.6 percent to 999 yen.
Commodity stocks underperformed after both gold and oil prices fell on Thursday. Inpex tumbled 5.5 percent to 567,000 yen after oil dived as much as 10 percent and sent U.S. crude back under $100 a barrel.
Trading houses were lower, with Mitsubishi Corp shedding 3.2 percent to 2,136 yen and Mitsui & Co slipping 3.4 percent to 1,405 yen.
Tokyo stocks rallied on Monday ahead of Japan's 3-day holiday, with the Nikkei closing above the closely watched 10,000 mark for the first time since the March 11 earthquake on optimism that Wall Street shares would rally after U.S. officials said al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed.
"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 to sellers completely, but even if they want to buy back, they will not probably buy above 9,800."
Analysts also said the Japanese market lacks cues until more corporate earnings are out next week, so trading may be subdued.
"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.
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 80.51 on Friday morning.
The benchmark Nikkei was down 1.7 percent at 9,832.58. The broader Topix shed 1.3 percent to 854.74.
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.
Sony Corp fell 4.2 percent to 2,218 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]
Japan Tobacco fell 2.3 percent to 322,000 yen after the company said on Friday it had decided to close a factory in Austria and has started talks with a local union.
The former state monopoly said it planned to end production at the plant around the end of 2011, affecting about 320 workers. [ID:nTKU000145] (Additional reporting by Chikafumi Hodo; Editing by Michael Watson)