Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 1.77%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Precision Instruments, Electrical/Machinery and Machinery sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.77%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TYO:9501), which rose 10.55% or 73.00 points to trade at 765.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Sompo Holdings Inc (TYO:8630) added 5.12% or 353.00 points to end at 7,253.00 and Shizuoka Financial Group Inc (TYO:5831) was up 1.84% or 22.50 points to 1,247.50 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107), which fell 4.95% or 271.00 points to trade at 5,202.00 at the close. Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) declined 4.69% or 208.00 points to end at 4,224.00 and CyberAgent Inc (TYO:4751) was down 4.45% or 38.30 points to 822.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2914 to 728 and 221 ended unchanged.

Shares in Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TYO:9501) rose to 5-year highs; up 10.55% or 73.00 to 765.00. Shares in Sompo Holdings Inc (TYO:8630) rose to all time highs; rising 5.12% or 353.00 to 7,253.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 4.16% to 17.77.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.55% or 0.38 to $69.76 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.58% or 0.43 to hit $74.73 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.13% or 2.65 to trade at $2,045.25 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.64% to 146.37, while EUR/JPY fell 0.64% to 157.54.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 104.08.