Total 31 issues out of 33 industry category of Topix index declined, with Marine Transportation, Securities & Commodities Futures, Iron & Steel, Nonferrous Metals, Glass & Ceramics Products, and Metal Products issues being notable losers.
Tokyo stocks opened lower and remained weak in the session, as investor sentiment dampened by worries about oil prices after Opec producers dominated by Saudi Arabia and allies led by Russia agreed on Sunday to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day from May to reflect the collapse of demand due to the pandemic.
Crude Oil benchmarks surged in Asian trade. The rally followed months of slumping prices after the Covid-19 outbreak sapped demand as countries around the world have put their populations under lockdown. A Saudi-Russian price war also saw the ramping up of production as both countries bid to hold on to market share and undercut US shale producers.
Developments surrounding the global coronavirus pandemic also likely continued to weigh on investor sentiment, with more than 1.8 million confirmed cases globally while at least 112,241 lives have been taken, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
Nidec Corp fell 1.3% after the electric-motor maker said it will delay its earnings announcement, which was originally scheduled on April 24, but gave no new date.
Sumitomo Electric Industries shed 3.7% after the company also postponed its earnings report by one week to May 19.
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Bucking the trend, Yaskawa Electric Corp added 0.2% as the company provided a quarterly projection after suspending its earnings guidance for its current financial year.
The industrial robot producer forecast an operating profit of 4 billion yen for the March-May period.
Aeon Co gained 3% after the company said its operating profit may drop as much as 77% in the year ending February as the virus outbreak hits global consumer spending and forces some of its stores to close.
ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan M2 Money Stock Up 3.3% On Year In March- Japan M2 money stock was up 3.3% on year in March, the Bank of Japan said on Monday, coming in at 1,046.0 trillion yen, following the 3.0% gain in February. The M3 money stock climbed an annual 2.7% to 1,380.6 trillion yen, down from 2.5% in the previous month. The L money stock was up 2.7% on year to 1,835.5 trillion yen, slowing from the 2.8% gain a month earlier. For the first quarter of 2020, M2 was up 3.0% on year, while M3 added 2.5% and L rose 2.8%.
CURRENCY: The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was last at 99.208 after declining from levels above 100 last week. The Japanese yen traded at 107.81 per dollar after seeing levels above 108.8 last week.
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