Japan shares lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.73%

Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Thursday, as losses in the Mining , Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Fishery sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.73%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (T: 9107 ), which rose 6.65% or 500.00 points to trade at 8,020.00 at the close. Nippon Yusen K.K (T: 9101 ) added 5.91% or 600.00 points to end at 10,760.00 and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (T: 9104 ) was up 4.43% or 145.00 points to 3,420.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (T: 4151 ), which lost 4.14% or 123.00 points to trade at 2,848.00 in late trade. Recruit Holdings Co Ltd (T: 6098 ) declined 3.75% or 211.00 points to end at 5,414.00 and Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (T: 9147 ) shed 3.66% or 320.00 points to 8,420.00.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2380 to 1206 and 189 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.66% to 22.37 a new 1-month low.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was down 5.04% or 5.43 to $102.39 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June fell 4.04% or 4.50 to hit $106.94 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.28% or 5.50 to trade at $1,928.00 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.21% to 121.54, while EUR/JPY fell 0.18% to 135.64.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 97.88.