* Markets jittery ahead of U.S. payrolls

* Nikkei should be supported above 14,000 - analysts

* Nikon tumbles after cutting digital camera sales forecast

* Online shares included in new index down on profit-taking

By Ayai Tomisawa

TOKYO, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Japanese stocks tumbled to

one-month lows on Friday morning after a sharp drop on Wall

Street dented risk appetite, keeping investors on the defensive

ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report later in the day.

The benchmark Nikkei dropped 0.9 percent to

14,096.96 in mid-morning trade, after falling to 14,026.17

earlier, the lowest since Oct 9. The Nikkei remains below

14,193.99, a 50 percent retracement of its May high to its June

low.

On Thursday, Wall Street suffered its biggest fall in more

than two months as weak earnings from the likes of Whole Foods

and Qualcomm dimmed the mood.

"The Japanese market took a hit from weak U.S. markets, but

if the Nikkei falls below 14,000, investors may start buying on

the dips," said Nobuhiko Kuramochi, a strategist at Mizuho

Securities.

"A level below 14,000 does not do justice to companies'

fundamentals considering their results," he said, adding that on

average, companies are expected to post a 38.7 percent rise in

their pretax profits for the year ending March.

Of the 127 Nikkei companies that have so far reported

July-September results, two-third of them either beat or met

analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine.

That compared with 58 percent in the previous quarter.

On Friday, bellwether exporters were weaker as some

investors trimmed their positions ahead of the U.S. jobs data.

A strong jobs report would give the U.S. Federal Reserve a

reason to taper its monthly purchases of $85 billion in assets

sooner rather than later, particularly after a much

better-than-expected U.S. gross domestic product report on

Thursday.

Speculation over the timeline for trimming the Fed's

stimulus, a major driver of risk assets in recent years, has

buffeted global markets since May.

"Eyes are on the jobs data, and as the data impacts the

direction of the Fed's tapering, performances in emerging

markets are also in focus," said Makoto Kikuchi, the chief

executive of Myojo Asset Management.

Sony Corp fell 2.4 percent and Toyota Motor Corp

shed 0.8 percent.

Nikon Corp stumbled 6.3 percent to a one-month low

after the company cut sales forecast of its digital camera

business.

The Topix dropped 0.7 percent to 1,176.56.

Profit-taking hit online companies such as GungHo Online

Entertainment Inc and CyberAgent Inc, which

attracted buying on Thursday after they were included in a new