Japan's Nikkei index gave up early gains on Monday to close lower as a report pointed to a possible early end to the Bank of Japan's negative interest rate policy.
The Nikkei index fell 0.43 percent to close at 32,467.76 points after rising as much as 0.4 percent earlier in the session. The index initially tracked Wall Street's gains at the end of last week.
In an article published by Yomiuri newspaper at the beginning of the week, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said that the central bank may end the negative interest rate policy when it is close to reaching the target inflation rate of two percent, which indicates the possibility of raising interest rates.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's banking index jumped 4.69 percent, its biggest daily gain since December 20, and was the biggest gainer among 33 industry sub-indices.
The insurance sector index also rose 2.15 percent, and the brokerage sector index rose 1.21 percent.
The financial sector stocks dominated the list of the ten most profitable stocks on the Nikkei index. Resona Holdings rose 6.54 percent to top the index.
The real estate sector was the worst performer, down 3.22 percent.
Chip-related stocks fell, with Tokyo Electron and Advantest falling 2.98 percent and 3.54 percent, respectively.
The broader Topix index ended trading, up 0.06 percent, at 2,360.48 points.
