Most Japanese stocks fell on concerns about the banking system

Most Japanese stocks fell on Tuesday, as the country’s financial sector shares were affected by the tension surrounding the US banking system, while shares of export companies got a boost from the weaker yen.

Brokerage firm Nomura Holdings fell 1.98 percent, hitting a new low for the current year. Banking Services Rezona Holdings fell 1.03 percent. Renesas Electronics rose 3.62 percent, leading a rally in chip-related shares.

The Nikkei index touched a 16-month high of 29,278.80 points earlier in the session. But at the close, it was up by only 0.09 percent, at 29,154.22 points, with the number of losing shares exceeding the winning ones.

The broader Topix index fell 0.14 percent to 2,070.42 points.

Tokyo markets will be closed for the next three days to celebrate the Golden Week holiday in Japan.