Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 2.72% to hit a new 6-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:3382), which rose 5.90% or 214.0 points to trade at 3842.0 at the close. Takara Holdings Inc. (T:2531) added 0.24% or 2.0 points to end at 841.0 and Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (T:9531) was up 0.20% or 4.5 points to 2205.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kobe Steel, Ltd. (T:5406), which lost 7.29% or 29.0 points to trade at 369.0 in late trade. JFE Holdings, Inc. (T:5411) declined 7.20% or 69.0 points to end at 889.0 and Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (T:5202) shed 7.16% or 34.0 points to 441.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 3563 to 148 and 59 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 28.07.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was down 0.98% or 0.45 to $45.45 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.96% or 0.48 to hit $49.51 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.19% or 3.25 to trade at $1671.25 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.22% to 105.92, while EUR/JPY fell 0.27% to 118.98.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.29% at 96.513.