* Nikkei turns up modestly after five days of losses * Trading houses fall as global oil prices drop * German economic worries linger By Thomas Wilson TOKYO, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average staged a modest rebound on Wednesday after a five-day losing streak, but concerns about a loss of momentum in the global economy after fresh evidence of fall in German business sentiment limited gains.

The Nikkei was up 0.4 percent at 15,003.22 around 0130 GMT, after falling to a two-month low on Tuesday.

"For now the market has calmed and there's some short relief. It's a natural rebound," said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex in Tokyo.

Offering some respite to Japanese export shares was a halt to the yen's appreciation. The dollar clawed its way up to 107.24, a rise of 0.2 percent, after having fallen to as low as 106.68 yen on Tuesday.

Denso climbed 2.3 percent while Shin-etsu Chemical < rose 1.1 percent.

Despite the Nikkei's rebound, lingering concerns at the state of the global economy left investors skittish.

A sharp lowering of German growth forecasts for 2014 and 2015 - coupled with the first negative reading in an index of analyst morale for nearly two years - underscored the fragility of the euro zone's biggest economy. [ID: nL6N0S93JY] An outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus is also casting a shadow on the global economic outlook, some investors also said.

"It feels a bit scary. This could be the first epidemic that the human society does not have prescription for in modern times. This will surely make international trade more difficult," said a fund manager at a Japanese asset management.

Energy-related shares remained under pressure after oil prices fell steeply on Tuesday, as a triple whammy of weak demand, high U.S. output of shale oil and a continued high output by OPEC members saw traders unable to staunch continued losses. [ID: nL2N0S31MJ] Inpex Corp fell 2.4 percent and Japan Petroleum Exploration lost 2.5 percent.

Many trading house shares - sensitive to fluctuations in energy prices - also underperformed. Marubeni Corp fell 0.3 percent, while Mitsui Co Ltd lost 0.1 percent.

The broader Topix added 0.2 percent, rising to 1,216.55, while the new JPX-Nikkei Index 400 rose 0.1 percent to 11,064.80.

(Reporting by Thomas Wilson; Additional reporting by Hideyuki Sano; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)