Japanese stocks fell for the first time in four sessions on Monday,
dragged down by Fanuc Ltd despite strong machinery orders data as caution set in ahead of a raft of economic events.
Brief gains on the October machinery orders, which were better than expected, were erased as investors moved in to take profits and then turned defensive, with shares such as drugmaker Eisai Co Ltd defying the bearish mood.
"The market is inclined to take a breather," said Takashi Ushio, head of investment strategy division at Marusan Securities.
"At the end of last week, the Nikkei average had regained half of the loss since its October high. It's hard to expect for the market to keep rising beyond this point at the moment."
A lacklustre mood on Wall Street, which ended little changed on Friday with concerns about consumer spending offset by a drop in oil prices and signs of resilience in the labour market, also dampened Tokyo activity, with investors waiting for Tuesday's interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve.
Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, a key gauge of corporate capital spending, rose 12.7 percent in October from the previous month and sent the Nikkei higher from the opening, but worries about the Bank of Japan's tankan survey of corporate sentiment, due out on Friday, carried more weight.
"The reason that this data didn't affect the market in a more positive way is that there's concern about what will show up in the tankan, with many thinking it will show that the economy's slowing," said Masayoshi Yano, senior manager of investment information at Tokai Tokyo Securities.....
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