Japanese shares fell as investors turned cautious about the economic outlook after a key U.S. manufacturing gauge posted its biggest drop in three years. The Topix index fell 0.5% to 2,308.44 points. The Nikkei share average fell 0.9 percent to 33,464.28. Sony Group was the biggest drag on the Topix's losses, down 1.2 percent. Of the 2,157 stocks in the index, 557 rose, 1,346 fell and 254 were unchanged. Hideyuki Ishiguro, senior strategist at Nomura Asset Management, said Monday's weak U.S. ISM manufacturing data underscored concerns about parts of manufacturing, including autos.

上周五发布的数据显示，加拿大2月份零售销售下降了0.2%，这是一个好于预期的数字，但剔除汽车之后下降了0.7%，低于预期。加拿大帝国商业银行分析师认为，剔除汽车的支出疲软是高利率正在产生影响的迹象。他们认为加拿大央行将在今年余下时间内保持利率不变。即使整个经济最近表现比预期要好，剔除汽车的零售支出量疲软也表明高利率确实对消费者支出决策产生了影响。这种支出疲软应该有助于控制商品价格通胀（假设供应链问题不再恶化），允许加拿大央行在2024年初开始逐步降息。