Tokyo: The war in Ukraine and rising Covid-19 cases in China weighed on Tokyo stocks Monday.

A 1.08 percent, or 293.48 points, decline in the Nikkei 225 ended at 26,799.71, while the Topix fell 0.86 percent, or 16.23 points, to 1,880.08.

Late Friday in Asia, the dollar was trading at 126.59 yen.

“With investors spooked by growing tensions linked to the Ukraine situation and surging Covid cases in China, the Nikkei started trading sharply lower,” Okasan Online Securities said.

The sell-off spread, particularly among growth stocks, and the market hit “greater than anticipated” lows, according to Toshikazu Horiuchi of IwaiCosmo Securities.

Rising US yields and oil prices also helped, Horiuchi told AFP.

Many Japanese companies report earnings next week, adding to investors’ concerns, he said.

A 0.68 percent decline for SoftBank, a 0.66 percent decline for Sony, and a 0.23 percent decline for Toyota.

Fast Retailing lost 1.24 percent to 64,000 yen, while Toshiba lost 0.84 percent to 5,056 yen.

According to a report, the Japanese health ministry may apply an emergency approval rule for Shionogi’s Covid pill.

[embedpost slug=”/ukraine-completes-starting-point-towards-eu-membership/”]