Tokyo stocks fell 0.84 percent Monday morning, after Wall Street tumbled on weak US jobs data and the IMF warned over the state of the global economy while a strong yen also weighed.
The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange gave up 75.81 points to 8,944.94 by the midday break while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues was down 0.65 percent, or 5.00 points, to 766.83.
Friday's weaker-than-expected US jobs data and a strong yen were among the factors putting pressure on the Japanese market, dealers said.
Also weighing, official data showed that Japan's current account surplus, the broadest measure of trade with the rest of the world, plunged 62.6 percent in May from a year earlier, deteriorating for the 15th straight month.
Core machinery orders also came in weaker than expected, suggesting corporate Japan was investing less amid concerns about future demand.
In Tokyo trade, bank stocks were under pressure with Mizuho Financial down 1.50 percent at 131 yen, while firms that ship to hard-hit Europe were also weaker with automaker Mazda falling 1.92 percent to 102 yen and chipmaker Renesas Electronics off 2.73 percent to 320 yen.
On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.96 percent to 12,772.47, while the S&P 500 gave up 0.94 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq dropped 1.30 percent.
The US Labor Department said the economy generated only a net 80,000 new jobs in June, leaving the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent.
That put the average for the second quarter at 75,000 jobs per month, a bad sign for US growth and consumer spending.
The news came on the heels of International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde saying that the fund would be cutting its global growth forecasts.
On currency markets, the euro was changing hands at $1.2290 in Tokyo trade against $1.2287 in New York late Friday, the euro's lowest level against the dollar since July 2010.
Against the Japanese currency, the euro bought 97.90 yen from 97.83 yen in US trade on Friday, while the dollar fetched 79.67 yen, little changed from 79.62 yen in New York.
-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --
