UPDATE1: Nikkei sinks to 3-month low on renewed concern over Europe.

TOKYO, May 7 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING DETAILS, PRICES)

Tokyo stocks tumbled Monday, with the Nikkei index falling to a three-month closing low below 9,200, after French and Greek elections raised concerns that Europe's efforts to implement austerity measures to settle the region's debt crisis may face a setback.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 261.11 points, or 2.78 percent, from Wednesday at 9,119.14, its lowest closing mark since Feb. 14, when it fell to 9,052.07. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange finished 20.81 points, or 2.62 percent, lower at 772.06.

Japanese financial markets were closed Thursday and Friday for national holidays.

All 33 sectors on the TSE, except the air transport sector, declined, led by the securities, mining and insurance sectors.

In the French presidential runoff Sunday, socialist Francois Hollande, who is opposed to austerity policies, beat incumbent Nicholas Sarkozy, while candidates opposed to major spending cuts gained voter support in Greece.

''Participants, especially foreign investors, grew risk-averse (after the elections)...Tokyo stocks were prone to be affected by events abroad rather than domestic issues,'' said Hiroichi Nishi, equity division manager at SMBC Nikko Securities Co.

The Nikkei index briefly lost nearly 3 percent to a session low of 9,109.01, its lowest intraday mark since Feb. 15, when it fell to 9,107.68.

Although some buybacks came in after initial selling ran its course, share prices remained top-heavy as ''many investors retreated to the sidelines to see how European and U.S. stocks will react to the elections later in the day,'' Nishi added.

The yen's rise against other major currencies also fueled the selling spree, with export-linked shares being notably sold out of concern over a decline in corporate earnings, the brokers said.

The euro briefly fell to its weakest level since mid-February in the lower 103 yen zone compared with the mid-104 yen zone in New York late Friday, and the U.S. dollar remained weak in the upper 79 yen zone.

Among major exporters such as high-technology manufacturers and automakers, Hitachi was down 24 yen, or 4.9 percent, to 468 yen and Olympus 55 yen, or 4.6 percent, to 1,155 yen.

Mazda Motor dropped 6 yen, or 4.8 percent, to 120 yen and Honda Motor 158 yen, or 5.6 percent, to 2,660 yen.

Financial shares lost ground amid concern about the eurozone debt crisis and its resulting impact on the global economy. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group dropped 12 yen, or 3.2 percent, to 364 yen and Mizuho Financial Group 4 yen, or 3.2 percent, to 120 yen.

Shares of mobile gaming site operators tumbled on reports that business models for certain games of such companies might be violating laws on misleading advertising. DeNA dropped 500 yen, or 20.1 percent, to 1,990 yen and Gree 500 yen, or 23.3 percent, to 1,651 yen.

On the First Section, falling stocks outnumbered rising ones 1,516 to 109, with 46 others unchanged.

Trading volume rose to 1,794.59 million shares from Wednesday's 1,326.58 million.