 "A woman holding an umbrella looks at her cellphone in front of an electronic board showing the various stock prices outside a brokerage in Tokyo")
Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Monday morning, snapping a four-day winning streak as investors remained cautious after the market rebounded sharply last week, while the market quickly digested Friday's US jobs data.
The Nikkei fell 0.6% to 16,920.01 in midmorning trade, after rebounding 5.1% last week.
Analysts said that investor risk appetite had returned since oil prices rebounded and the yen's strengthening had paused, but profit-taking from last week's rally would likely keep the market under pressure on Monday.
Mining shares, which had soared in the past four days, languished. Inpex Corp fell 1.9% and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co shed 0.6%.
Bank stocks had a weaker tone, with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group falling 0.5%, Mizuho Financial Group shedding 1.7% and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group sliding 0.2%.
Exporters were mixed. Toyota Motor Corp fell 2.1%, Honda Motor Co dropped 0.5% and Panasonic Corp rose 1.0%.
US stocks gained as investors took heart from employment data which soothed investors' concerns about a sluggish economy without bolstering fears of an imminent interest hike. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 242,000 jobs last month. However, lower wages and hours kept a lid on inflation, a key factor as the Federal Reserve considers when next to raise US interest rates.
"The result of the US jobs data was neutral to Japanese investors. The market will continue to stay focused on macro data such as this week's GDP," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, an equity strategist at Daiwa Securities.
Japan's economy is forecast to have shrunk an annualised 1.5% in October-December last year, a Reuters poll of 21 analysts showed, slightly worse than the early estimate of a 1.4% contraction. The revised data is due out Tuesday.
Sharp soared 7.3% as investors expect Foxconn will close a deal this week to buy Sharp.
The broader Topix fell 0.9% to 1,362.61 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 1.0% to 12,322.29.
