Japan shares lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 1.98%

Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Shipbuilding , Communication and Glass sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.98% to hit a new 1-month low.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (T: 5541 ), which rose 2.51% or 95.0 points to trade at 3875.0 at the close. NKSJ Holdings, Inc. (T: 8630 ) added 1.79% or 79.0 points to end at 4490.0 and Suzuki Motor Corp. (T: 7269 ) was up 1.46% or 103.0 points to 7163.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T: 5706 ), which lost 14.05% or 587.5 points to trade at 3595.0 in late trade. The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (T: 5631 ) declined 7.62% or 237.0 points to end at 2873.0 and Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T: 6976 ) shed 5.86% or 175.0 points to 2811.0.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 3109 to 417 and 97 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 13.06% to 16.19.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for September delivery was down 0.28% or 0.19 to $67.44 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in October fell 0.32% or 0.23 to hit $72.58 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.56% or 6.80 to trade at $1212.20 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.42% to 110.34, while EUR/JPY fell 0.78% to 125.58.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 96.30.