Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.72%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Mining, Transportation Equipment and Precision Instruments sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.72%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Fujikura Ltd. (TYO:5803), which rose 3.68% or 38.00 points to trade at 1,070.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (TYO:3099) added 3.54% or 44.00 points to end at 1,287.00 and Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (TYO:8354) was up 3.17% or 82.00 points to 2,671.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035), which fell 3.78% or 1,760.00 points to trade at 44,820.00 at the close. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (TYO:2802) declined 2.30% or 104.00 points to end at 4,416.00 and TDK Corp (TYO:6762) was down 2.27% or 110.00 points to 4,730.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1951 to 1499 and 346 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 21.97% to 22.43 a new 1-month high.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.11% or 0.08 to $74.33 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.21% or 0.17 to hit $79.52 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.24% or 4.25 to trade at $1,786.65 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.24% to 137.38, while EUR/JPY rose 0.17% to 143.72.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 105.60.