* Nikkei slips on profit-taking after last week's 8-mth high
* Yen hovers near 2-week high vs dlr, weighs on exporters
* Mitsubishi Estate up, says interested in buying REIT
* Laox surges, Nikkei says Chinese firm to buy 30% stake
* Defensive sectors hold firm
By Masayuki Kitano
TOKYO, June 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 1.8 percent on Thursday, pulling away from last week's eight-month high as investors booked profits due to uncertainty about the prospects for a further pickup in the economy.
Big banks such as Mizuho Financial Group tracked their U.S. peers lower, while exporters such as Honda Motor Co fell as the yen hovered near a two-week high versus the dollar.
Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd bucked the trend, rising 0.5 percent to 1,568 yen after Japan's second-biggest developer told Reuters on Wednesday it is interested in buying a real estate investment trust (REIT) in Japan and is preparing to launch a property investment fund in the United States.
"It seems like a pull-back phase. People who want to take profits are starting to appear," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.
"Since risk assets have been performing well, there are moves around the world toward re-balancing and profit-taking," he said.
While there has been a recovery in factory production in Japan as inventory adjustments progressed, there are doubts about the outlook for final demand, including capital expenditure and personal consumption, Ogawa said.
The Nikkei ended morning trade down 177.37 points at 9,663.48.
The benchmark has pulled away from an eight-month closing high of 10,135.82 reached last Friday, but is still nearly 38 percent above a trough hit in early March.
The broader Topix fell 1.7 percent to 907.23.
Investors and market analysts said the Nikkei had been due for a fall after its three-month rally, but rapid declines seemed unlikely at this stage.
"In Japan, the price earnings ratio has risen to around 40, compared to around 25 to 26 for Taiwan, and there had been buying that exceeded actual conditions," said Hideyuki Ishiguro, a supervisor in Okasan Securities' investment strategy department. The Nikkei is likely to be supported at its 25-day moving average, which is now near 9,600, Ishiguro said. If that support is breached it could fall towards the 200-day moving average near 9,100, but declines beyond that seem improbable, he said. "The economy's level may be low but it is clearly headed toward improvement," Ishiguro said.
The dollar stood at 95.77 yen after hitting a two-week low of 95.51 yen earlier this week.
That hurt exporters such as Honda, which fell 3.6 percent to 2,580 yen, while Canon Inc was down 2.8 percent at 3,110 yen.
Mizuho Financial Group, Japan's second-largest bank, fell 3.6 percent to 242 yen, and top-ranked Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group fell 3.3 percent to 584 yen.
Cyclical sectors such as construction and sea transport declined, while defensive sectors such as foods and pharmaceuticals held firm.
Laox Co climbed by its daily limit, surging 83.3 percent to 66 yen, after the Nikkei business daily said the struggling consumer electronics retailer is holding discussions with Chinese retail chain operator Suning Appliance Co on an equity deal that would make it the first big Japanese retailer to become a Chinese company's affiliate.
In U.S. trade, the Nasdaq rose slightly on the back of technology shares, while the Dow and S&P 500 both fell about 0.1 percent as U.S. bank shares took a hit from a debt ratings downgrade and uncertainty over Washington's extensive proposals for banking-industry reform.
Trade was subdued, with 1.3 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo Exchange's first section compared with last week's morning average of 1.5 billion.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones 1,166 to 392. (Editing by Michael Watson)