TOKYO (AP) -- Japanese stocks fell Monday but held up a bit better than expected, as weak U.S. jobs data on Friday and surging crude prices triggered a sharp drop on Wall Street.

The Nikkei 225 index fell 308.06 points, or 2.1 percent, to 14,181.38.

Traders say investors want to see how U.S. shares fare later in the global day after of a jump in the American unemployment rate rekindled fears of a slowdown in that key export market.

"The performance (of U.S. stocks) will likely to set the directions of the Nikkei tomorrow," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, equity strategist at Shinko Securities.

Earlier in the day, the market trimmed its losses on hopes that Wall Street stocks may rebound this week after the Dow Jones industrial average stumbled 3.1 percent on Friday. As the dollar stayed above 105 yen during Asian trading hours, futures-buying supported the Nikkei around 14,200 before it slipped lower.

In late Tokyo trading, the dollar bought 105.42 yen up from 104.90 late Friday in New York.

Exporters were weak on profit-taking, with Tokyo Electron shedding 4.8 percent to 6,800 yen and Canon dropping 4.4 percent to 5,450 yen. Toyota Motor Corp. sank 2.9 percent to 5,430 yen, and Honda Motor Co. fell 3.4 percent to 3,730 yen.

Meanwhile, oil-linked shares rose after crude prices surged to records late last week, climbing above US$139 a barrel in after-hours trading Friday. Inpex Holdings gained 3.8 percent to 1.35 million yen. In Asian trading, oil retreated below US$137 a barrel.

One share that made a splash in an otherwise gloomy session was sportswear maker Goldwin, whose shares shot up 22 percent to 299 yen. Individual investors piled into the stock because the company has a license to sell Speedo's LZR Racer swimsuits, which was what Japanese swimmers were wearing as they set new national and world records at the Japan Open swimming competition over the weekend.

In currencies, the euro hit 166.39 yen -- its highest level since Dec. 28 -- and was trading at 165.98 Monday afternoon. Against the greenback, the euro was at $1.5788, a tad higher than $1.5776 in New York Friday.

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