TOKYO: Tokyo stocks have opened 0.51 per cent lower, after falls on Wall Street as a solid US jobs report raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon rise interest rates.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 106.25 points to 20,618.31 at the start.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.27 per cent while the broad-based SP 500 shed 0.29 per cent.
The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.26 per cent.
The Labor Department said the US economy added 215,000 jobs last month and that unemployment held steady at a seven-year-low rate of 5.3 per cent.
The report brought the average monthly jobs gains to 235,000 over the past three months, heightening expectations that the Fed could raise its near-zero federal funds rate as early as next month.
In Tokyo currency markets, the US dollar fetched Y124.35 early Monday against Y124.22 in New York late Friday.
The euro was at $US1.0957 and Y136.25 compared with $US1.0962 and Y136.16 in US trade.
