TOKYO: Japan equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Precision Instruments, Automobiles & Parts and Glass sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.68% to hit a new 3-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd. (T:4021), which rose 2.76% or 90.0 points to trade at 3345.0 at the close. Shiseido Co., Ltd. (T:4911) added 2.23% or 63.5 points to end at 2910.0 and The Kansai Electric Power Co. (T:9503) was up 1.93% or 27.0 points to 1425.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004), which lost 4.91% or 89.0 points to trade at 1725.0 in late trade. Toshiba Corp. (T:6502) declined 4.71% or 10.4 points to end at 210.2 and Aeon Co., Ltd. (T:8267) shed 4.41% or 73.5 points to 1591.5.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2018 to 1061 and 274 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 5.66% to 22.39 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was down 0.09% or 0.05 to $53.06 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June fell 0.07% or 0.04 to hit $55.82 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.74% or 9.40 to trade at $1287.50 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.03% to 109.00, while EUR/JPY fell 0.22% to 116.02.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 100.18.
