Tokyo stocks lost ground on Monday as worries over a US-China trade war and a strong yen weighed on the market. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.79 percent or 178.68 points to close at 22,338.15, while the broader Topix index was down 0.95 percent or 16.56 points at 1,728.27.
"The trade dispute between the US and China continued weighing on sentiment," Shinichi Yamamoto, a broker at Okasan Securities, told AFP. "The Nikkei index lost further due to a strong yen," Yamamoto added.
On Monday, the dollar fetched 109.39 yen against 109.98 yen in New York late Friday. "The biggest challenge for Japanese companies will be trade negotiations linked to the auto industry," Tsuyoshi Nomabuchi, a Daiwa Securities strategist, said in a commentary.
"Falls in the Chinese market so far have had limited impact on the Japanese and US share prices, but this should be kept in mind as a potential risk," he said.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 percent, snapping an eight-session losing streak, with petroleum giants Exxon Mobil and Chevron scoring strong gains after Opec agreed to only a modest production increase.
In Tokyo, energy companies were mixed following the Opec agreement. Inpex jumped 1.75 percent to 1,129.5 yen but Japan Petroleum Exploration fell 0.18 percent to 2,676 yen, with Idemitsu Kosan down 0.27 percent at 3,565 yen.
Automakers were lower also on concerns over the trade dispute and the strong yen. Nissan fell 1.01 percent to 1,067.5 yen with Honda down 0.95 percent at 3,310 yen. Telecom giant SoftBank dropped 2.36 percent to 8,198 yen.
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