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TOKYO, April 9 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average

fell in a broad sell-off on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street's

overnight declines on worries about slowing growth as the trade

war between the United States and China intensified.

The Nikkei index fell 2.62% to 32,147.04 by the

midday break, recovering from an earlier drop of nearly 4%.

The broader Topix fell 2.1% to 2,380.84.

The index swung wildly this week, closing 6% higher on

Tuesday, following a 7.8% decline on Monday that sent the index

to a 1-1/2-year low.

"Investors are uncertain about how much further the Nikkei

could fall. They are trying to find where the bottom is," said

Hiroyuki Ueno, chief strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset

Management.

"But the Nikkei had fallen enough to a level that looks

cheap this week. The market is now monitoring if the index could

fall below Monday's low."

The United States will impose 104% duties on China soon,

driving up concerns about slowing growth and higher inflation

that have pummelled global stocks since last week.

The S&P 500 sold off sharply on Tuesday to close below 5,000

points for the first time in almost a year, reversing a strong

morning rally as investor hopes faded for any U.S. delays or

concessions on tariffs ahead of a midnight deadline.

In Japan, technology stocks led the Nikkei's losses, with

chip-testing equipment maker Advantest ( ADTTF ) falling 6.64%

and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron ( TOELF ) down

4.12%.

Technology investor SoftBank Group fell 5.96%.

The yen's gain against the dollar weighed on exporters. The

Japanese currency rose to as high as 145.13 yen to the

dollar on safe-haven bets.

A stronger Japanese currency tends to hurt shares of

exporters, as it decreases the value of overseas profits in yen

terms when firms repatriate them to Japan.