Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Retail, Chemical and Electrical/Machinery sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.29%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (T:7003), which rose 2.94% or 33.0 points to trade at 1155.0 at the close. Tokyo Electron Ltd. (T:8035) added 2.61% or 340.0 points to end at 13390.0 and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T:7735) was up 2.51% or 120.0 points to 4905.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kao Corp. (T:4452), which lost 5.45% or 425.0 points to trade at 7373.0 in late trade. Kikkoman Corp. (T:2801) declined 4.83% or 290.0 points to end at 5720.0 and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506) shed 4.56% or 175.0 points to 3665.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2362 to 1158 and 188 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.81% to 23.30.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was down 1.47% or 0.77 to $51.59 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 1.43% or 0.88 to hit $60.56 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.38% or 4.90 to trade at $1296.90 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.21% to 107.94, while EUR/JPY fell 0.16% to 124.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 94.800.