Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 1.68%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Transport, Finance&Investment and Communication sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.68%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107), which rose 2.61% or 80.00 points to trade at 3,150.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Panasonic Corp (TYO:6752) added 1.97% or 24.00 points to end at 1,240.00 and Olympus Corp. (TYO:7733) was up 1.47% or 35.50 points to 2,446.50 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (TYO:4568), which fell 4.30% or 205.00 points to trade at 4,567.00 at the close. Taiheiyo Cement Corp. (TYO:5233) declined 4.11% or 103.00 points to end at 2,404.00 and Komatsu Ltd. (TYO:6301) was down 4.10% or 137.00 points to 3,208.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 3223 to 428 and 174 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.10% to 16.55.

Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.46% or 0.37 to $81.08 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.54% or 0.46 to hit $85.40 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.27% or 5.60 to trade at $2,043.80 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.11% to 131.54, while EUR/JPY rose 0.01% to 144.24.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.07% at 101.19.