JOIN USTokyo's key Nikkei index edged up at the open on Monday, as investors looked for clues about the direction of the day's trade following a mixed close in New York.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.10 per cent or 22.65 points at 21,900.54 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was down 0.05 per cent or 0.76 points at 1,562.91.
"Markets were relieved on Friday that Trump's much anticipated press conference on Hong Kong did not contain anything further than (Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo's already-flagged actions of removing Hong Kong's favoured trading status," Tapas Strickland, economist at National Australia Bank, said in a note.
But Toshiyuki Kanayama, senior market analyst at Monex, said "the Japanese market today is seen starting with subdued trading amid a lack of fresh factors to buy after a mixed close in US shares".
On Wall Street, the Dow ended down 0.1 per cent at 25,383.11 while the S&P 500 closed up 0.5 per cent and the tech-rich Nasdaq ended up 1.3 per cent.
Looking ahead, investors are this week closely watching the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and US jobless claims and payrolls, due Thursday and Friday, respectively, Strickland of NAB said.
The dollar fetched 107.80 yen in early Asian trade, against 107.78 yen in New York on Friday.
In Tokyo, some blue-chip exporters were higher with game giant Nintendo rising 2.23 per cent to 44,510 yen, chip-making equipment manufacturer Tokyo Electron trading up 2.07 per cent at 21,945 yen, and Hitachi up 2.78 per cent at 3,551 yen.
But Yamaha Motor was down 1.86 per cent at 1,526 yen and Olympus was down 1.44 per cent at 1,844.5 yen.