Japan shares lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 2.12%

Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Transport , Electrical/Machinery and Communication sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 2.12% to hit a new 1-month low.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (T: 7003 ), which rose 1.66% or 19.0 points to trade at 1164.0 at the close. Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. (T: 5002 ) added 1.66% or 27.0 points to end at 1650.0 and JGC Corp. (T: 1963 ) was up 1.42% or 23.0 points to 1641.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Pioneer Corp. (T: 6773 ), which lost 27.27% or 24.0 points to trade at 64.0 in late trade. Showa Denko K.K. (T: 4004 ) declined 5.91% or 235.0 points to end at 3740.0 and Minebea Mitsumi Inc (T: 6479 ) shed 5.71% or 97.0 points to 1601.0.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 3249 to 375 and 103 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 4.14% to 21.32.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.17% or 0.09 to $52.52 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.50% or 0.31 to hit $61.98 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.07% or 0.85 to trade at $1253.45 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.04% to 112.65, while EUR/JPY rose 0.27% to 128.65.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 96.540.