TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday as the yen picked up against the dollar after US jobs data beat expectations.
Wall Street and most European equity markets traded firmly Friday in response to the American economy generating 235,000 new jobs in February, well above forecasts.
And even though the robust reading confirmed views of a looming interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, the dollar slipped after having risen ahead of the release in anticipation of a strong result.
The greenback was trading at 114.73 yen on Monday, hardly changed from 114.78 yen in New York Friday afternoon and down from levels above 115 yen seen in Tokyo earlier.
A strong yen is negative for Japanese exporters as it erodes their repatriated profits.
“Japanese stocks will likely be top-heavy, dampened by the yen’s uptrend into the 114 range,” Okasan Online Securities chief strategist Yoshihiro Ito said in a commentary.
“Caution is also needed after the big rise last weekend,” he added. The Nikkei rose nearly 1.5 percent on Friday.
In early trading Monday, the Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.33 percent, or 65.53 points, to 19,539.08 after two days of gains, while the Topix index of all first-section issues was down 0.25 percent, or 3.90 points, at 1,570.11.
Investors were awaiting a two-day policy meeting by the Fed starting Tuesday as the employment report looks likely to ensure a fresh rate hike.
In Tokyo, Toyota was down 0.59 percent at 6,481 yen while Nintendo lost 0.52 percent to 24,605 yen.
Energy shares were lower following drops in oil prices. Japan Petroleum fell 0.78 percent to 2,641 yen and Inpex, another oil explorer, sank 0.58 percent to 1,106 yen.
© Agence France-Presse
