TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday extending gains on Wall Street but soon moved into negative territory over worries on the virus situation.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.67 percent in early trade but quickly sank 0.32 percent to 89.05 points to 27,995.42.
The broader Topix index slid 0.06 percent or 1.08 points to 1,882.34.
"The Nikkei index this week is likely to increase steadily. It's expected to bounce back today," Okasan Online Securities said.
But it warned of "the number of coronavirus cases (in Japan) staying at a high level and the slowness of the vaccination roll out" is affecting investor sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1 percent to close at 34,382.13 on Friday, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent to 4,173.85.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.3 percent to finish the week at 13,429.98.
In Tokyo trading, market heavyweight SoftBank Group lost 0.48 percent to 8,487 yen while Uniqlo casual wear operator fell 0.20 percent to 86,750 yen.
Toyota gained 1.35 percent to 8,593 yen while Nissan climbed 0.76 percent to 538.5 yen. Honda dropped 2.70 percent to 3,237 yen.
Sony rose 0.39 percent to 10,265 yen.
The dollar fetched 109.47 yen in early Asian trade on Monday, against 109.34 yen in New York Friday.
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