Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Transportation Equipment, Warehousing and Banking sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.66%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Kobe Steel, Ltd. (TYO:5406), which rose 4.78% or 40.00 points to trade at 877.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) added 4.29% or 212.00 points to end at 5,148.00 and Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp (TYO:4188) was up 3.72% or 28.90 points to 805.80 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Rakuten Inc (TYO:4755), which fell 5.17% or 37.00 points to trade at 679.00 at the close. Recruit Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:6098) declined 3.95% or 158.00 points to end at 3,841.00 and Okuma Corp. (TYO:6103) was down 2.63% or 140.00 points to 5,180.00.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2098 to 1425 and 293 ended unchanged.
Shares in Kobe Steel, Ltd. (TYO:5406) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.78% or 40.00 to 877.00.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.43% to 15.14 a new 3-years low.
Crude oil for March delivery was down 1.34% or 1.05 to $77.44 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April fell 1.23% or 1.05 to hit $84.09 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 1.09% or 20.15 to trade at $1,831.65 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.62% to 134.77, while EUR/JPY rose 0.32% to 143.35.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.55% at 104.36.