Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index edged up at the open on Monday as investors awaited US-Japan summit talks later in the day.
The key Nikkei 225 index was up 0.03 percent, or 5.97 points, at 21,123.19 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.04 percent, or 0.66 points, at 1,540.55.
After a fun-filled weekend of golf and sumo, US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are set to hold formal talks Monday, with trade and tensions with North Korea topping the agenda.
On Monday, Trump tweeted: "Great progress being made in our Trade Negotiations with Japan.
"Agriculture and beef heavily in play. Much will wait until after their July elections where I anticipate big numbers!"
Despite his tweet that tough negotiations can wait until after the election in Japan, "the stocks market may react negatively if he shows a harsh attitude towards the Japanese auto sector" at the summit talks with Abe, Hirokazu Kabeya, chief global strategist at Daiwa Securities, said in a commentary.
"It's necessary to keep paying attention to the China-US (trade) talks" this week.
The dollar fetched 109.46 yen in early Asian trade, against 109.29 yen in New York late Friday.
In Tokyo, Nissan was up 0.76 percent at 746.3 yen after news that its French alliance partner Renault and Italian-US auto giant Fiat Chrysler are set to announce talks on an alliance, with a view to a potential merger.
Its rival Toyota was up 0.33 percent at 6,524 yen while Honda was down 0.69 percent at 2,770.5 yen.
Takeda Pharmaceutical was up 2.37 percent at 3,938 yen while telecom and investment firm SoftBank Group was up 1.45 percent at 10,445 yen.
On Wall Street on Friday, the Dow ended up 0.4 percent at 25,585.69.
Tokyo's Nikkei opens higher with eyes on Japan-US summit
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index edged up at the open on Monday as investors awaited US-Japan summit talks later in the day.
Source: AFP
