Tokyo stocks open lower with eyes on data

TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday after last week's session ended with rallies, as investors eye a set of global economic indicators due this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.48 percent or 140.97 points at 29,008.44 in early trade, while the broader Topix index slipped 0.42 percent or 8.17 points to 1,939.27.

"Japanese shares are seen starting with losses after the rallies at the end of last week," senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama of Monex said in a note.

Some investors are taking a wait-and-see attitude as the US market will be closed on Monday, "with profit-taking dominating trade" in Tokyo, Mizuho Securities said in a note.

Investors are watching a set of data including the purchasing manager's index in China due later in the day and key US jobs data later this week, analysts added.

The dollar fetched 109.91 yen 109.84 yen in New York late Friday.

Nippon Steel dipped 2.12 percent to 2,058 yen, Hitachi was off 0.72 percent at 5,774 yen, and Canon was down 1.72 percent at 2,577.5 yen.

Nissan was down 1.59 yen after a report said the Japanese carmaker and Chinese-owned battery maker Envision AESC will invest more than 200 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in new battery plants for electric vehicles in Japan and the UK.

Its bigger rival Toyota was up 0.73 percent while Honda dipped 2.39 percent to 3,385 yen.

On Wall Street, the Dow ended up 0.2 percent at 34,529.45.