Japan shares lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 2.23%

Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Rubber , Automobiles & Parts and Textile sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 2.23%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (T: 7011 ), which rose 4.59% or 160.00 points to trade at 3,648.00 at the close. Ricoh Co., Ltd. (T: 7752 ) added 3.98% or 39.00 points to end at 1,019.00 and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (T: 9104 ) was up 3.86% or 400.00 points to 10,760.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Hino Motors, Ltd. (T: 7205 ), which lost 14.76% or 155.00 points to trade at 895.00 in late trade. AGC Inc (T: 5201 ) declined 9.72% or 465.00 points to end at 4,320.00 and Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (T: 5202 ) shed 6.89% or 31.00 points to 419.00.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 3154 to 486 and 132 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 6.93% to 27.32.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was up 2.00% or 2.15 to $109.82 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 1.55% or 1.71 to hit $112.17 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.21% or 4.00 to trade at $1,939.90 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.03% to 115.50, while EUR/JPY fell 0.45% to 127.17.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.29% at 98.07.