Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Fishery, Finance & Investment and Machinery sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.04% to hit a new 3-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were West Japan Railway Co. (T:9021), which rose 1.08% or 80.0 points to trade at 7484.0 at the close. Keio Corp. (T:9008) added 0.90% or 8.0 points to end at 897.0 and Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (T:3863) was up 0.89% or 18.0 points to 2049.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Familymart Ltd (T:8028), which lost 6.42% or 430.0 points to trade at 6270.0 in late trade. Fujikura Ltd. (T:5803) declined 4.46% or 36.0 points to end at 772.0 and Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707) shed 4.27% or 21.0 points to 471.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2842 to 332 and 187 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 5.42% to 21.19 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.41% or 0.22 to $53.62 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.48% or 0.27 to hit $56.50 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.15% or 1.85 to trade at $1276.05 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.07% to 109.70, while EUR/JPY rose 0.16% to 116.44.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 100.57.