Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Machinery and Automobiles & Parts sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.21%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were IHI Corp. (TYO:7013), which rose 6.52% or 230.00 points to trade at 3,760.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (TYO:9104) added 3.86% or 125.00 points to end at 3,365.00 and Eisai Co., Ltd. (TYO:4523) was up 3.83% or 344.00 points to 9,332.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. (TYO:5232), which fell 3.29% or 110.00 points to trade at 3,235.00 at the close. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TYO:9501) declined 3.29% or 17.00 points to end at 499.00 and Konami Corp. (TYO:9766) was down 3.15% or 210.00 points to 6,450.00.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2391 to 1141 and 276 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.97% to 18.71.
Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.73% or 0.57 to $78.77 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.76% or 0.64 to hit $84.89 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.31% or 5.45 to trade at $1,769.15 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.19% to 138.42, while EUR/JPY rose 0.06% to 143.29.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 106.54.