Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Shipbuilding and Insurance sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.02%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Hokuetsu Kishu Paper Co., Ltd. (T:3865), which rose 2.94% or 18.0 points to trade at 630.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Rakuten Inc (T:4755) added 2.76% or 26.0 points to end at 969.0 and Oji Holdings Corp. (T:3861) was up 2.74% or 18.0 points to 675.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Amada Co., Ltd. (T:6113), which fell 4.30% or 49.0 points to trade at 1091.0 at the close. Okuma Corp. (T:6103) declined 4.22% or 250.0 points to end at 5680.0 and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (T:4063) was down 3.85% or 357.0 points to 8925.0.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1965 to 1486 and 234 ended unchanged.
Shares in Rakuten Inc (T:4755) rose to 52-week highs; up 2.76% or 26.0 to 969.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.02% to 17.73.
Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.64% or 0.37 to $58.63 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.81% or 0.55 to hit $68.10 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.55% or 7.25 to trade at $1302.05 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.47% to 111.67, while EUR/JPY rose 0.50% to 126.51.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 96.530.