TOKYO, March 16 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

slid for a third straight day on Monday as the Middle East

crisis threatened longer-term damage to the economy through

higher energy prices and a weaker yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.3%

to 53,138.42 as of the midday break. The broader Topix

slid 0.7% to 3,602.71.

The Nikkei has slid more than 9% since the start of U.S. and

Israeli air strikes on Iran more than two weeks ago, as the

conflict spread into neighbouring countries and paralysed

shipment of petroleum through the Strait of Hormuz. Shares

briefly turned up after U.S. President Donald Trump said he is

urging other countries to help safeguard shipping routes.

Japan does not currently plan to dispatch naval vessels to

escort ships in the Middle East, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

said. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the

government is prepared to take decisive steps in financial

markets, as the yen sank close to the psychologically important

160-per-dollar line.

The market seems to be growing increasingly concerned about

stagflation, where economies are gripped by simultaneous

increases in inflation and declines in growth, said Maki Sawada,

an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.

"Concerns about an economic slowdown due to rising oil

prices are being factored in," Sawada said. "Rather than a

general selloff today, we are seeing a trend where these

domestic demand sectors are performing firmly and underpinning

the Japanese stock market."

There were 43 advancers on the Nikkei against 182 decliners.

The largest losers on the gauge were key suppliers to the

artificial intelligence sector, Furukawa Electric ( FUWAF ) and

Fujikura ( FKURF ), which both slid 6.7%.

The largest gainers in the index were meat processor NH

Foods ( NHFOF ), up 2.3% and Denka ( DENKF ), a chemical and

advanced materials company, which rose 2.2%.