Roundup: Nikkei loses 0.95 pct on Fed rate hike concerns, Japan's revised GDP

The Nikkei stock index lost 0.95 percent Monday as strong jobs data from the United States sparked concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may increase its interest rate earlier than expected and downwardly revised growth data here also contributed to a risk-off mood.

The Nikkei 225 index lost 180.45 points to close the day at 18, 790.55, while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues fell 0.59 percent, or 9.08 points, to finish at 1,531.76.

Local traders said that the market here was dragged down by a poor performance on Wall Street at the end of last week, following data from the United States on Friday showing that the economy added 295,000 nonfarm jobs last month, which was well ahead of median analysts expectations, and that the jobless rate has also dropped.

The fear is now, however, that the Fed who has up until now adopted a "patient" stance on its expected rate hike, may go ahead and implement the increase earlier than expected. The latest jobs figures were deemed to be key in the Fed's decision as to when it will hike its rate.

Now the U.S. economy seems to be on a stable growth path, economists believe the Fed may be eyeing June for raising its interest rate.

The jobs data released Friday after markets here were closed, saw Wall Street close lower and ensured a risk-averse mood here from the get-go on Monday.

Investors' mood here was also soured by revised data from the government showing that Japan's economy grew less than initially expected in the last quarter of 2014.

Gross domestic product (GDP) for the October-December quarter grew an annualized real 1.5 percent, downgraded from 2.2 percent, which was a 0.4 percent increase from the previous quarter, compared to the Cabinet Office's initial 0.6 percent growth figure released in a preliminary report in February.

"The massive drop in U.S. stocks is weighing more than the negative GDP revision. In terms of the gross domestic product revision, as long as exports are gaining, we should see a spiral where that leads to higher business spending," said Tetsuo Seshimo, a portfolio manager at Saison Asset Management Co.

Despite the U.S. dollar rising to 121.03 from 120.78 yen in New York on Friday, exporters closed mixed, with consumer electronics giant Sony falling 1.6 percent to 3,283 yen and Mazda Motor reversing 1.2 percent to 2,480 yen.

But tire maker Bridgestone Corp. accelerated 0.6 percent to end at 4,716 yen and power tool maker Makita gained 0.7 percent to close at 6,030 yen.

Japan Display, a joint venture between Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi, rose 1.1 percent to 481 yen, after it said it will pump 170 billion yen (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) into building a new factory here to produce the latest 6th generation LCD panels.

But NTT Docomo slumped 1.5 percent to 2,209 yen, following Mizuho lowing its rating of the firm's stock from "neutral" to " underperform." Softbank Corp. also closed lower, losing 1 percent to end at 7,005 yen.

Among real estate issues, Mitsubishi Estate retreated 2 percent to 2,698 yen and Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. fell 3.2 percent to close the first trading day of the week at 4,037 yen.

Trading volume on Monday dropped to a year low of 1.79 billion shares on the Tokyo Exchange's First Section, down from Friday's volume of 2.12 billion shares, with declining issues outpacing advancing ones by 1,075 to 652. Endi