Tokyo stocks were mixed Monday morning, as a rise in long-term government bond yields to a nearly 10-year high prompted buying of bank shares but put downward pressure on semiconductor heavyweights.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond hit 0.700 percent, a level unseen since January 2014, after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda hinted at the possibility of ending the central bank's negative interest rate policy in a newspaper interview Saturday.
The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 62.80 points, or 0.19 percent, from Friday to 32,544.04. The broader Topix index was up 2.43 points, or 0.10 percent, at 2,361.45.
Gainers were led by bank, insurance and electric power and gas shares, while the main decliners were real estate, service and machinery issues.
