Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Transportation Equipment and Mining sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.45% to hit a new 6-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (TYO:5202), which rose 4.59% or 26.00 points to trade at 593.00 at the close. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (TYO:8306) added 4.18% or 37.20 points to end at 926.20 and T&D Holdings, Inc. (TYO:8795) was up 3.36% or 64.00 points to 1,966.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107), which lost 7.21% or 201.00 points to trade at 2,586.00 in late trade. Nippon Yusen K.K (TYO:9101) declined 6.51% or 202.50 points to end at 2,907.50 and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (TYO:9104) shed 6.23% or 205.00 points to 3,085.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2786 to 847 and 188 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.70% to 19.92.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was down 1.96% or 1.51 to $75.42 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 2.05% or 1.68 to hit $80.42 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 1.12% or 20.65 to trade at $1,866.75 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.45% to 130.41, while EUR/JPY rose 0.21% to 138.49.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.53% at 103.76.