Japanese share places plunged Monday on concerns about Greece's failure to meet a deficit target set by European leaders as part of its bailout deal. The dollar was fractionally higher against the yen.

Tokyo's Nikkei index dropped 1.8 percent to close at 8,545.

In currency trading, the dollar was selling at 77.08 yen, up a fraction from late Friday.

The Taipei market lost nearly 3 percent to end at 7,014.