Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Precision Instruments, Power and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.81% to hit a new 1-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Z Holdings Corp (TYO:4689), which rose 5.64% or 20.70 points to trade at 387.70 at the close. Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:3382) added 2.90% or 174.00 points to end at 6,174.00 and Inpex Corp. (TYO:1605) was up 2.58% or 42.00 points to 1,668.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Eisai Co., Ltd. (TYO:4523), which lost 4.14% or 366.00 points to trade at 8,484.00 in late trade. Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO:7735) declined 3.74% or 590.00 points to end at 15,205.00 and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) shed 3.33% or 670.00 points to 19,445.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2607 to 1014 and 228 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 4.29% to 21.13.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for August delivery was up 0.08% or 0.06 to $74.89 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 0.05% or 0.04 to hit $79.44 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.13% or 2.55 to trade at $1,939.65 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.46% to 139.72, while EUR/JPY fell 0.27% to 154.09.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 101.14.