Nikkei Tumbles as Safe-Haven Yen Surges on Trump Health Care Defeat

Japan's Nikkei share average skidded 1.4 percent on Monday, wallowing at a six-week low and deepening last week's 1.3 percent loss, on pressure from a resurgent yen.

The dollar fell to its weakest level since November against the safe-haven yen after the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump's healthcare package on Friday, which raised concerns that his promised stimulus could face similar political roadblocks.

The Nikkei ended at 18,985.59 points, plumbing to its lowest level since Feb. 9 and losing 0.7 percent for the month so far.

Shares in brokerage firms dropped in line with the broader market downturn, with the Tokyo Stock Exchange's securities subindex down 3.2 percent.

The broader Topix was down 1.3 percent at 1,524.39 points, while the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 also shed 1.3 percent to 13,628.67 points.

(Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Eric Meijer and Randy Fabi)