TOKYO: Tokyo shares opened lower on Monday as worries mounted over a tightening of US monetary policy.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.21 percent or 335.37 points to 27,104.62 in early trade and the broader Topix index fell 0.90 percent, or 17.45 points, to 1,913.11.
Wall Street stocks finished mostly higher on Friday following a surprisingly good US jobs report that raised expectations for aggressive tightening in monetary policy.
Tokyo shares open flat despite Wall Street selloff
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.1 percent but the broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.6 percent.
"The US long-term interest rate temporarily reached... the highest level since January 2020, following widespread speculation that the Federal Reserve would accelerate monetary tightening on the back of strong jobs data," Mizuho Securities said in a note.
"The (Japanese) market is likely to experience see-saw trade on caution over the rise of the long-term US yield," it said.
In Tokyo trading, Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing dropped 1.72 percent to 63,970 yen while Sony lost 0.51 percent to 12,535 yen.
Toshiba dipped 0.10 percent to 4,718 yen after reports said the conglomerate was considering splitting in two instead of three.
The company will hold a press Q&A later on Monday.
Automakers were lower with Nissan falling 0.56 percent to 595.8 yen, Toyota shrinking 0.70 percent to 2,261.5 yen and Honda tumbling 1.42 percent to 3,397 yen.
SoftBank Group added 0.92 percent to 5,262 yen.
The dollar fetched 115.16 yen in Asian trade against 115.21 yen on Friday in New York.
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