Japan's Nikkei share average ended 1% lower on Monday as investors sold chip-related stocks, while foreign investors kept on the sidelines with U.S. markets being closed for the Juneteenth holiday.

The Nikkei closed lower at 33,370.42, after rising 0.2% earlier in the session. Last week, the benchmark hit a 33-year high and posted its 10th consecutive weekly gain.

"There was always a support from foreign investors when the Nikkei turned weak, but today was different," said Seiichi Suzuki, chief equity market analyst at Tokai Tokyo Research Institute.

"There was not enough buyers as foreign investors seemed to have been away from the market ahead of a U.S. holiday on Monday. The Nikkei may turn course in the latter part of the next session when foreign investors are back."

Chip-related stocks fell, with Advantest and Tokyo Electron slipping 2.45% and 3.32%, respectively. Screen Holdings lost 3.34%.

Uniqlo brand owner Fast Retailing slipped 1.42%.

Toyota Motor lost 1.4% after rising nearly 20% this month.

The yen touched a near seven-month low against the dollar on Monday, after the Bank of Japan maintained its ultra-low interest rate policy.

If the yen keeps weakening, the Japanese central bank may have to tweak its policy in the near future and such speculation lifted the banking sector by 1.12%, said Shigetoshi Kamada, general manager at the research department at Tachibana Securities.

The banking index rose nearly 1% to become the best performer among the 33 industry sub-indexes on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The insurance sector T> gained 0.74%.

The broader Topix lost 0.43% to 2,290.50.

(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)