Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 1.44%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Banking, Pharmaceutical Industry and Transport sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.44%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (TYO:3086), which rose 3.04% or 34.00 points to trade at 1,153.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Takashimaya Co., Ltd. (TYO:8233) added 2.47% or 42.00 points to end at 1,744.00 and Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, Ltd. (TYO:5901) was up 1.58% or 25.00 points to 1,611.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (TYO:7211), which fell 5.26% or 26.00 points to trade at 468.00 at the close. Mazda Motor Corp (TYO:7261) declined 5.10% or 51.00 points to end at 949.00 and Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (TYO:5202) was down 4.89% or 30.00 points to 583.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2167 to 1313 and 319 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.14% to 19.15.

Crude oil for March delivery was down 0.95% or 0.76 to $79.04 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 0.72% or 0.61 to hit $84.37 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.19% or 3.55 to trade at $1,910.55 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.60% to 128.10, while EUR/JPY fell 0.50% to 138.39.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 102.05.