* Trade thin
* Many uncertainties causing investors to wait -strategist
* Asahi Glass and other glassmakers hit by broker downgrade
By Antoni Slodkowski
TOKYO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average was flat on Wednesday, after falling nearly 2 percent the previous day when China stocks tumbled on a liquidity squeeze, and market players said they were looking again to Chinese equities for direction.
The Nikkei, however, gained 8 percent in November and analysts say recent yen weakness and expectations of further recovery in the U.S. economy will continue to lend support, although worries that the euro zone credit crisis may spread will weigh.
"Investors were worried over interest hikes in China and the euro zone yesterday and are now waiting for this Friday's U.S. employment figures and Christmas sales figures to trade on," said Fumiyuki Takahashi, equity strategist for Barclays Capital Japan.
"So investors want to watch the market a bit more closely with so many uncertainties around. But the long term view is rather positive with high expectations for Japanese companies to do well this financial year," he said.
By the midday break, the Nikkei was 5.24 points lower at 9,931.80, holding above its current support at 200-day moving average, now at 9,911.47.
The broader Topix index was 0.1 percent lower at 860.20.
Trading volume was thin with just 0.8 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, on track to come in well below the Tuesday's closing average of 2.1 billion shares.
Shanghai stocks were down 0.6 percent in early trade. China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to a seven-month high of 55.2 in November from 54.7 in October.
"Growth in Chinese PMI has slowed down a notch, with November increasing only 0.5 percent in comparison with 0.9 percent for October, so investors need more time to look at Asian markets carefully," said Yumi Nishimura, deputy general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets.
Nishimura added that ahead of more U.S. data an economy, the Nikkei is likely to trade in tight range near 10,000.
The euro zone's troubles showed no sign of abating after Standard and Poor's put Portugal's A-minus credit ratings on review for a possible downgrade on Tuesday, citing uncertainties related to a potential financial rescue by the EU and the IMF.
Shares of Nippon Electric Glass and Asahi Glass slid after Goldman Sachs lowered its ratings for the stocks.
The brokerage cited growing concerns that the current oversupply of LCD glass will likely continue at least in 2011.
It cut its rating on Nippon Electric Glass to "neutral" from "buy" and downgraded Asahi Glass to "sell" from "neutral".
Nippon Electric Glass shares lost 3.8 percent to 1,130 yen and Asahi Glass shed 4.7 percent to 889 yen. (Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)