The Nikkei star index dropped 0.78% to 26,910.87 points, but had briefly dropped more than 2% at the start of the session. The Topix extended index fell 0.71% to 1,910.68 points.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange closed lower on Monday on still-high tensions over Ukraine, but slowed its losses on the prospect of an upcoming summit between the US and Russian presidents.
The Nikkei star index dropped 0.78% to 26,910.87 points, but had briefly dropped more than 2% at the start of the session. The Topix extended index fell 0.71% to 1,910.68 points.
As the Tokyo market suffered heavy losses in the morning, US Presidents Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet at a summit proposed by their French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
This surprise announcement comes as a Russian invasion of Ukraine was given for imminent by the West, in view of the escalation of tensions in recent days in the separatist East of Ukraine.
But “it is quite possible that this summit will come to nothing, so investors will probably wait to see its results”, commented Masahiro Ichikawa, market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management quoted by the Bloomberg agency.
On the Hong Kong Stock Exchange too, the Hang Seng index was still moving down on Monday (-0.76% around 06:40 GMT).
Beyond Ukraine, uncertainties about the extent of monetary tightening to come in the United States are another source of anxiety currently for equity markets.
Fed officials seem to be divided for the time being on the extent to which they should raise their key rates next month to curb US inflation without jeopardizing the economic recovery.
On the side of values
SHARP DISORIENTS ITS INVESTORS: the title of the Sharp electronics group plunged 10.12% to 1,181 yen. Investors have taken badly its plan announced Friday to buy all of its former subsidiary Sakai Display, which manufactures LCD panels and of which it currently only holds 20%.
Sharp, which has been majority-owned since 2016 by the Taiwanese group Foxconn / Hon Hai, had nevertheless tried last year to sell its remaining shares in Sakai Display.
On the side of currencies and oil
The yen was almost stable against the dollar, at the rate of one dollar for 114.95 yen on Monday around 06:45 GMT against 115.01 yen on Friday at 21:00 GMT.
The Japanese currency, however, depreciated against the euro, which was worth 130.68 yen against 130.21 yen at the end of last week.
And the euro also rose against the dollar, trading for 1.1367 dollars against 1.1322 dollars on Friday.
The oil market retreated after the announcement of the Biden-Putin summit on Ukraine: after 06:30 GMT the price of a barrel of American WTI lost 0.29% to 90.81 dollars and that of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea yielded 0.42% to 93.15 dollars.