TOKYO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Tokyo stocks closed lower Monday amid a lack of clear cues with many markets shut for the Easter holidays with tech issues losing ground as U.S. Treasury yields rose, while the yen's plunge against the U.S. dollar to a fresh 20-year low hurt sentiment.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped 293.48 points, or 1.08 percent, from Friday to close at 26,799.71.

The broader Topix index, meanwhile, lost 16.23 points, or 0.86 percent, to finish at 1,880.08.

Local brokers said investors were in a circumspect mood as some overseas markets remained closed for the Easter holidays and fresh buying cues were lacking.

"Looking at recent market moves, this should be a level that would attract bargain hunting, but because it's the start of the week and there's a scarcity of triggers to buy, bids are lacking, which is accelerating declines," a trader at a domestic securities firm was quoted as saying.

Dealers here added that tech issues came under pressure amid concerns over the U.S. Federal Reserve continuing on its monetary tightening path following a significant jump in the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield late last week.

Meanwhile, market strategists pointed towards continued volatility in the currency market, with the yen at one point plunging to a fresh 20-year low versus the U.S. dollar.

The yen trading versus the U.S. dollar in the upper 126 zone earlier Monday caused Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to say that recent sharp declines of the Japanese yen could negatively impact Japanese firms' earnings outlooks and the nation's already struggling economy.

"The yen's recent depreciation against the U.S. dollar has been quite rapid," Kuroda told a parliamentary session.

The BOJ chief said that it is more desirable that currencies move stably reflecting economic fundamentals, with his assessment of recent volatility in the currency markets coming amid growing concerns over the impact this could have on Japan's fragile economy.

The sudden depreciation of the Japanese currency also caused Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki to say at the session that "bad" would be a fitting way to describe the yen's recent depreciation.

Rising U.S. Treasury yields have been prompting market players to offload the Japanese currency, with the move compounded by the prospect of a widening monetary policy gap between Japan and the United States.

This is due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's tightening its policy to combat inflation and its suggestion of further rate hikes this year.

The Fed's aggressive moves compare to the BOJ maintaining its ultra-loose monetary easing policy position, which has long been underpinned by the bank's overall dovish stance on monetary policy, in contrast to other central banks.

Typically, Japanese mainstay exporter firms cheer a weaker yen as it enhances price competitiveness in overseas markets and can see profits augmented when repatriated on favorable exchange rates.

However, a recent surge in energy and commodity prices that resource-poor Japan has to import, is hurting companies' balance sheets due to the yen's weakness, which is weighing on consumer spending, market analysts said.

"A weaker yen is usually beneficial for stocks, but its positive impact on the Japanese economy has been minimal," Koichi Fujishiro, a senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, was quoted as saying.

By the close of play on the Prime Market, service, pharmaceutical and food issues comprised those that declined the most, and issues that fell outpaced those that rose by 1,372 to 403, while 63 ended the day unchanged.

Technology-oriented issues losing ground included Nikkei heavyweight and tech startup investor SoftBank Group falling 0.7 percent, while game and console maker Nintendo retreated 1.6 percent. Sony Group, meanwhile, closed the day down 0.7 percent.

Uniqlo casual clothing shop owner Fast Retailing dragged the broader market lower, slipping 1.25 percent, by the close.

Japan Airlines was a notable loser, declining 2.1 percent, after announcing recently it expects its net loss to be bigger than originally thought owing to domestic demand for travel hit by COVID-19 emergency measures imposed during the business year.

Energy issues found favor, however, as crude oil futures advanced, with exploration giant Inpex climbing 1.8 percent.

On the Prime Market on Monday, trading volume dropped to 834.81 million shares from Friday's volume of 880.06 million shares.

The turnover on the first trading day of the week came to 1.872,28 billion yen (14.78 billion U.S. dollars). Enditem

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