Shares of exporters were mostly lower on a stronger yen. Sony was down 0.2%, Panasonic fell 0.3% and Mitsubishi Electric was lower by 0.7%, while Canon rose more than 1%. Sharp was down 0.34% after activist groups criticised it for allowing its subcontractors to cut some 2,900 foreign workers at a factory in Japan.Among the major automakers, Toyota rose 0.4%, while Honda was lower by 0.2%.
Takeda Pharmaceutical declined almost 1% ahead of an extraordinary shareholders meeting on Wednesday as a group of rebel investors is reportedly trying to thwart a deal with Shire.
Shares of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines rose1% after a brokerage firm upgraded its estimates on the marine transportation company.
On the economic front, the Bank of Japan said that the monetary base in Japan was up 6.1% on year in November, coming in at 501.330 trillion yen. That follows two straight months of 5.9% gains.
CURRENCY NEWS: Japanese yen changed hands in the upper -113 yen zone against greenback on Monday, largely in line with its levels in New York overnight. The dollar was quoted at 113.58-59 yen compared with 113.60-70 yen in New York and 113.46-47 yen on Monday in Tokyo. The euro, meanwhile, fetched 129.97-98 yen against 128.94129.04 yen in New York and 128.98-129.02 yen in Monday trade in Tokyo.
OFFSHORE MARKET NEWS: US stock market closed higher on Monday, reflecting a positive reaction to the highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping over the weekend. In a much-anticipated meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the weekend, the heads of the world's two biggest economies hammered out a deal that will see them hold off on their tit-for-tat tariffs row, which has roiled global equities for most of the year. The leaders called a cease-fire in their trade dispute, to last for at least 90 days, to allow time to smooth out disagreements over Chinese technology policies that the U.S. and other trading partners consider predatory. Trump will hold off on plans to raise tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, which were supposed to kick in on Jan. 1. In return, Xi agreed to buy a "very substantial amount" of agricultural, energy and industrial products from the U.S. to reduce its large trade deficit with China. The Dow surged up 287.97 points or 1.1% to 25,826.43, the Nasdaq soared 110.98 points or 1.5% to 7,441.51 and the S&P 500 shot up 30.20 points or 1.1% to 2,790.37.
The major European markets also showed strong moves to the upside on Monday. The German DAX Index shot up by 1.9%. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index advanced by 1.2% and 1%, respectively.
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