TOKYO: Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Paper & Pulp and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors led shares lower. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.39%. The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Marui Group Co., Ltd. (T:8252), which rose 9.70% or 146.0 points to trade at 1651.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Rakuten Inc (T:4755) added 6.55% or 76.0 points to end at 1237.0 and Ube Industries, Ltd. (T:4208) was up 6.08% or 16.0 points to 279.0 in late trade. The worst performers of the session were Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707), which fell 13.84% or 71.0 points to trade at 442.0 at the close. Hitachi Zosen Corp. (T:7004) declined 11.08% or 73.0 points to end at 586.0 and Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (T:5541) was down 10.99% or 40.0 points to 324.0.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1843 to 1211 and 323 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.21% to 14.35 a new 52-week low. Crude oil for June delivery was down 0.25% or 0.12 to $47.71 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July fell 0.26% or 0.13 to hit $50.64 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.37% or 4.47 to trade at $1228.67 a troy ounce. USD/JPY was down 0.16% to 113.69, while EUR/JPY fell 0.13% to 123.50. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 99.54.
