Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.80%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Railway&Bus, Communication and Transportation Equipment sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.80% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Z Holdings Corp (TYO:4689), which rose 2.93% or 10.50 points to trade at 368.30 at the close. Meanwhile, CyberAgent Inc (TYO:4751) added 2.79% or 30.00 points to end at 1,105.00 and Nichirei Corp. (TYO:2871) was up 2.43% or 65.00 points to 2,740.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings (TYO:8309), which fell 6.27% or 306.00 points to trade at 4,572.00 at the close. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (TYO:5713) declined 6.20% or 316.00 points to end at 4,782.00 and Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc (TYO:8750) was down 6.18% or 154.00 points to 2,337.50.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 3041 to 624 and 168 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 9.76% to 19.42.

Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.56% or 0.38 to $67.99 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.71% or 0.52 to hit $74.21 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.53% or 10.25 to trade at $1,921.05 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.39% to 132.88, while EUR/JPY fell 0.04% to 141.01.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 104.13.