Japan's Nikkei fell on Monday morning as renewed trade worries dented risk appetite, while Renesas Electronics tumbled on concerns about how it would finance its announced plan to purchase a US chipmaker. The Nikkei share average shed 0.4 per cent to 22,785.20 in midmorning trade.

US President Donald Trump had said on Saturday there was no need to keep Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement and warned Congress not to meddle with the trade negotiations or he would terminate the trilateral trade pact altogether.

Hiroyuki Fukunaga, chief executive of Investrust, said that with US-Japan trade talks this month, “this news suggests a discouraging outlook for us,” adding that many investors are staying on the sidelines for now.

He added that there are concerns that Trump will ask Japan to take specific steps to lower its trade deficit with the United States.

Tech shares were sold, with Tokyo Electron falling 1.4 per cent, Kyocera Corp shedding 1.8 per cent and Shin-Etsu Chemical sliding 1.3 per cent. Renesas Electronics Corp dropped 6 per cent after saying it is considering buying US chipmaker Integrated Device Technology Inc as it beefs up its business in chips for self-driving cars and seeks new growth areas.

The Nikkei business daily said that the deal could be worth as much as $6 billion. Traders said that the market is worried about how Renesas is going to finance such a large acquisition. Retail and food stocks gained ground, with Seven & i Holdings rising 0.9 per cent and Kikkoman Corp up 1.6 per cent. The broader Topix dropped 0.6 per cent to 1,725.14.

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