(Updates with closing prices, adds additional analyst comment)

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, April 5 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

tumbled nearly 2% to a three-week low on Friday, logging its

worst week since December 2022, as tech shares slid on Wall

Street's lead.

Investors were also cautious ahead of a key monthly U.S.

jobs report due later in the day, with the outlook for when the

Federal Reserve will cut interest rates becoming increasingly

unclear this week.

The Nikkei dropped 1.96%, or 781 points, to

38,992.08, bringing its loss for the week to 3.41%.

"The biggest factor for the Nikkei's decline is technical,"

said Kazuo Kamitani, an equities strategist at Nomura

Securities.

It was a second straight weekly loss for the benchmark

index, as it pulled back from an all-time high of 41,087.75

reached on March 22.

The 25-day moving average turned lower on Friday, meaning

"there's the risk that the Nikkei is in for another step down

from here," Kamitani said.

"The 25-day moving average has a mysterious gravitational

pull, and is very much in focus for the market," he added. "All

of next week, stock market moves could be a bit volatile."

Chip sector shares were among the biggest drags on Friday,

with Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) dropping 5.6% to shave 217 points

from the Nikkei. Advantest ( ADTTF ) erased another 81 points

with a 4.85% decline.

Other notable losers included startup investor SoftBank

Group ( SFTBF ), which slid 2.77%, and Uniqlo chain operator Fast

Retailing ( FRCOF ), which skidded 2.26%.

Of the Nikkei's 225 components, 159 declined while 62

advanced, with four flat.

The broader Topix lost 1.08%, with a sub-index of

growth shares dropping 1.49%, compared with a 0.68%

decline for value stocks.

Seasonality also contributed to equity weakness, said

Norihiro Yamaguchi, senior Japan economist at Oxford Economics.

"It is the very beginning of the new fiscal year, and

earnings season is approaching soon," leading investors to adopt

a wait-and-see stance, Yamaguchi said.