TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday, weighed down by investor caution over US trade tensions with Canada and China.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 0.21 percent or 48.60 points to 22,816.55 in early trade while the broader Topix index was also down 0.21 percent or 3.64 points at 1,731.71.
After American markets closed mixed on Friday, news emerged that US-Canada talks ended without an agreement on rewriting the North American Free Trade Agreement, though discussions will resume this week.
Investor sentiment has also been hit by speculation that the President Donald Trump’s administration will impose tariffs on a further $200 billion of Chinese imports as soon as this week.
“Global risk assets should remain under duress due to an ongoing potent mix of emerging markets spillover amidst concerns that President Trump moves forward this week with the next round of tariffs directed at China,” Stephen Innes, who heads Asia-Pacific trading at OANDA, said in a note.
Emerging market currencies have recently been battered with funds flowing back to the dollar on expectations of higher interest rates.
Against the Japanese unit, the dollar was at 111.11 yen on Monday compared with 111.02 yen in New York on Friday afternoon.
In stocks trade, automakers dropped amid trade worries, with Toyota down 0.69 percent at 6,882 yen and Honda off 0.42 percent at 3,278 yen.
Renesas Electronics fell 4.64 percent to 801 yen after weekend reports that it was in the final stages of inking a six-billion-dollar deal to buy a US microchip maker.
© Agence France-Presse