Asian markets gain while Nikkei drops

Tokyo stocks fell for a second  straight session on Monday, dragged down by a plunge in Chubu Electric after Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for the closure of its nuclear plant due to worries that a large earthquake could trigger another nuclear crisis.     

Kan's surprise announcement late on Friday triggered selling of other utility shares and weighed on overall market sentiment as investors worried that further plant shutdowns would exacerbate power shortages that have already disrupted operations at manufacturers since the earthquake in March.     

The benchmark Nikkei shed 0.7% at 9,794.      

Japan on Monday lagged other Asian markets, such as Shanghai and Hong Kong, and failed to benefit from a robust U.S. April payrolls report on Friday that unexpectedly showed an increase of 244,000 jobs, the most in 11 months.

Hong Kong shares finished higher on Monday for the first session in nine, boosted by a rebound in global crude prices, but gains were capped by concern over key economic data due from Beijing on Wednesday. Hang Seng jumped 0.76% to 23,336.

Shanghai Composite was up 0.32% at 2,873. Straits Times surged 1.3% to 3,141 - rebounding from the worst weekly decline in almost two months.

Investors in general were hesitant about taking large positions in risk assets as the market wanted to see more U.S. economic data to determine the outlook for the U.S. and global economies, traders said.   

The market was also nervous after Wall Street shares fell from their highs due to wariness over Greece's debt problems.     

"The U.S. jobs data was positive, but the market is still unconvinced, which is limiting gains in share prices in general," Okasan's Ishiguro said.   

Volume fell to the lowest level since April 26, with 1.7 billion shares changing hands on the Tokyo stock exchange's main board, down from than Friday's 1.91 billion shares.   

The ongoing strength of the yen also weighed on Japanese shares, traders said.   

"It may be difficult for the Nikkei to trade above the 10,000 line soon as that's the pre-earthquake level, and there isn't much in the way of good news to lift stocks to that level," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.   

Investors also refrained from trading actively as many companies, including Toyota Motor , are due to announce results this week.