TOKYO, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average tumbled to more than a two-week low on Thursday as Japanese markets reopened after a three-day national holiday to face news of weak Chinese and U.S. factory a activity, hurting machinery stocks in particular.
The Nikkei share average fell 2.8 percent to 17,571.83, the lowest close since Sept. 8 and posted the biggest daily percentage decline in more than three weeks.
Japan's machinery sector, which relies on China for much of its business, was particularly hard hit by fears of a global slowdown brought on by the private surveys of purchasing managers released Wednesday.
The Topix machinery subindex shed 5.0 percent. Okuma Corp stumbled 9.1 percent and Makita Corp dived 7.8 percent. A report published by Goldman Sachs also weighed on the sector, in which six machinery stocks in Japan including these companies were downgraded.
The broader Topix dropped 2.4 percent to 1,426.97 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 fell 2.4 percent to 12,800.75.
(Reporting by Ayai Tomisawa and Joshua Hunt; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)