Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 3.11% to hit a new 52-week low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (T:8354), which rose 1.87% or 41.0 points to trade at 2237.0 at the close. Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc (T:8750) added 1.62% or 41.0 points to end at 2567.5 and Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. (T:5232) was up 1.59% or 55.0 points to 3520.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included CyberAgent Inc (T:4751), which lost 16.01% or 270.0 points to trade at 1416.0 in late trade. Softbank Group Corp. (T:9984) declined 9.00% or 464.0 points to end at 4692.0 and Recruit Holdings Co Ltd (T:6098) shed 7.25% or 398.0 points to 5090.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 3411 to 302 and 89 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0% to 27.58.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for March delivery was down 0.53% or 0.46 to $86.89 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in April fell 0.48% or 0.43 to hit $88.31 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.96% or 17.50 to trade at $1812.20 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.05% to 114.68, while EUR/JPY fell 0.16% to 128.60.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.32% at 96.710.