Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.55%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Hitachi Ltd (T:6501), which rose 3.14% or 136.0 points to trade at 4465.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. (T:5214) added 2.83% or 68.0 points to end at 2469.0 and Taiheiyo Cement Corp. (T:5233) was up 2.58% or 85.0 points to 3380.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (T:4568), which fell 5.58% or 414.0 points to trade at 7004.0 at the close. IHI Corp. (T:7013) declined 3.53% or 92.0 points to end at 2517.0 and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (T:9107) was down 3.43% or 66.0 points to 1860.0.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2483 to 1055 and 242 ended unchanged.
Shares in Hitachi Ltd (T:6501) rose to 52-week highs; up 3.14% or 136.0 to 4465.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 12.98 a new 52-week low.
Crude oil for February delivery was down 0.79% or 0.48 to $60.39 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.57% or 0.38 to hit $65.72 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.04% or 0.65 to trade at $1481.25 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.03% to 109.44, while EUR/JPY fell 0.11% to 121.91.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 96.830.