Tokyo - Tokyo stocks opened lower on Monday amid lingering worries over a US-China trade war and after a strong earthquake shook western Japan with no immediate reports of major damage.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.39% or 88.97 points to 22 762.78 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.53% or 9.51 points at 1 779.53.
"Concerns over a US-China trade war are weighing on the market, prompting profit-taking sales," Yoshihiro Ito, chief strategist at Okasan Online Securities, said in a commentary.
The fall came after US stocks retreated over tit-for-tat tariff announcements by Washington and Beijing ignited a trade war that could spread, with the Dow closing down 0.3% at 25 090.48.
About an hour before the opening bell in Tokyo, a 5.3-magnitude quake struck near Osaka in western Japan, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or risk of a tsunami, officials said.
The dollar fetched ¥110.60 in early Asian trade, against ¥110.68 in New York late on Friday.
Sony was down 1.28% at ¥5 376 and Panasonic slipped 1.34% to ¥5 372.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial was down 0.75% at ¥6,537.
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