Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.88%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Mining, Paper&Pulp and Banking sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.88%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), which rose 4.63% or 417.00 points to trade at 9,420.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (TYO:4568) added 2.61% or 142.00 points to end at 5,575.00 and Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) was up 2.51% or 63.00 points to 2,575.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Lasertec Corp (TYO:6920), which fell 7.54% or 2,900.00 points to trade at 35,560.00 at the close. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings (TYO:8725) declined 5.02% or 166.00 points to end at 3,142.00 and Recruit Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:6098) was down 4.81% or 397.00 points to 7,857.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2641 to 992 and 236 ended unchanged.

Shares in SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) rose to 3-years highs; up 4.63% or 417.00 to 9,420.00. Shares in Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) rose to 52-week highs; rising 2.51% or 63.00 to 2,575.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.76% to 17.15.

Crude oil for July delivery was down 0.11% or 0.08 to $73.17 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in August fell 0.06% or 0.05 to hit $77.47 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.16% or 3.70 to trade at $2,351.10 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.58% to 155.76, while EUR/JPY rose 0.51% to 169.38.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.16% at 104.22.