Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.98%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366), which rose 5.38% or 15.0 points to trade at 294.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Advantest Corp. (T:6857) added 2.54% or 160.0 points to end at 6460.0 and Sony Financial Holdings Inc. (T:8729) was up 2.33% or 60.0 points to 2632.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (T:5541), which fell 4.35% or 106.0 points to trade at 2331.0 at the close. Unitika, Ltd. (T:3103) declined 3.89% or 14.0 points to end at 346.0 and Rakuten Inc (T:4755) was down 3.80% or 35.0 points to 886.0.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2636 to 959 and 196 ended unchanged.
Shares in Advantest Corp. (T:6857) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 2.54% or 160.0 to 6460.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 14.26.
Crude oil for March delivery was down 1.62% or 0.92 to $55.82 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 1.33% or 0.84 to hit $62.37 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.09% or 1.35 to trade at $1555.35 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.22% to 109.58, while EUR/JPY fell 0.23% to 121.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 97.300.