Tokyo stocks open down 0.21 percent

TOKYO – Tokyo stocks opened down 0.21 percent on Monday after lacklustre trading on Wall Street on Friday.

The Nikkei 225 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened down 20.05 points at 9,756.98.

US stocks’ weaker Friday close and apprehension over forthcoming US Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing data due later Monday may weigh on the index, said Daiwa Securities senior market analyst Yumi Nishimura.

Currency movements will serve as an important trading cue, she added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.02 percent to 12,977.57 on Friday, although the market drove smallish Nasdaq newcomer Yelp to a first day gain of over 60 percent.

The euro fell on Friday as the reality of weak European growth countered any new progress made on tackling the region’s financial crisis.

The euro bought $1.3195 and 107.77 yen in early Asian trade on Monday, compared with $1.3196 and 107.93 yen in New York late Friday. The dollar edged down to 81.67 yen from 81.78 yen.

— Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this article —