TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo shares opened slightly down Monday as the yen remained stronger after a lackluster United States jobs report late Friday and the London attack escalated political uncertainties.
The dollar fetched 110.39 yen in early Asian trade, down modestly from 110.44 yen late Friday in New York, as weak US jobs data weighed on US Treasury yields.
“The numbers were solid enough to keep the Fed on track for a June hike, but not strong enough to erase uncertainties over the future Fed funds rate’s path beyond June,” Rodrigo Catril, Currency Strategist at National Australia Bank said in a commentary, referring to the key US payrolls data.
Despite rallies in the US Stocks, the lack of wage inflation in the report prompted a decline in US Treasury yields that led to the dollar slip across the board, analysts said.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.21 percent, or 41.86 points, to 20,135.42 in early trade, while the Topix index of all first-section shares lost 0.38 percent, or 6.19 points, to sit at 1,606.01.
“Britain’s election looked like a shoe in for the Prime Minister but polls now have her leading by a whisker,” NAB said in a separate commentary, referring to the Thursday election.
“Escalating terrorism adds to the unease,” it said.
The British pound slipped to 1.2869 dollars from 1.2889 dollars in New York, after seven people were killed in a terror attack in London on Saturday night when a van smashed into pedestrians on London Bridge before three assailants went on a stabbing spree.
In the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota was down 1.60 percent at 5,995 yen, after a weekend report the auto giant has terminated its tie-up with Tesla and stepped up efforts to develop electric vehicles by itself.
Toshiba was up 0.31 percent after a report by the leading business daily Nikkei said Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision, better known as Foxconn, is planning to tie up with US tech giants Apple and Amazon in its bid to buy the struggling Japanese firm’s prized memory chip business.
Wall Street stocks finished at records Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.3 percent to close at 21,206.29.
© Agence France-Presse
