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Tokyo shares open lower on strong yen, weak oil prices

Tokyo shares opened lower Monday, with buying dampened by a firm yen, lower oil prices and drops on Wall Street last week.

The fall back comes after a global rally last week fuelled by relief that US and Japanese central banks decided to maintain their easy-money policies.

"Oil spot prices will have a big influence on where equities markets are going to trade for the early part of the week," said Angus Nicholson, a Melbourne-based analyst at IG Ltd.

"There are uncertainties over whether the OPEC members can reach an agreement," he told Bloomberg News.

Oil prices have already been depressed after two years of oversupply amid deep disagreements between members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

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An OPEC meeting will open on Wednesday in Algeria and failing to agree on a production freeze could push prices even lower.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.33 percent, or 55.08 points, to 16,698.94 in the first few minutes of trading.

The Topix index of all first-section shares was down 0.22 percent, or 2.91 points, to 1,346.65.

Investors were also discouraged by a firm yen, with the dollar buying 100.80 yen in early Asian trade against 101.02 yen in New York on Friday.

A strong yen hurts demand for shares of Japanese exporters as it reduces their competitiveness abroad and eats into repatriated profits.

On Wall Street, weakness in energy equities and technology giants Apple and Facebook pushed US stocks lower Friday.

mis/pb/ds