Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the Precision Instruments, Pharmaceutical Industry and Electrical/Machinery sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 3.86% to hit a new 6-months low.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Panasonic Corp (T:6752), which rose 0.47% or 5.7 points to trade at 1222.2 at the close. Meanwhile, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (T:9531) added 0.02% or 0.5 points to end at 2755.0 and The Kansai Electric Power Co. (T:9503) was down 0.15% or 2.5 points to 1686.5 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Advantest Corp. (T:6857), which fell 9.78% or 205.0 points to trade at 1891.0 at the close. Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (T:6504) declined 7.91% or 295.0 points to end at 3435.0 and Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976) was down 7.41% or 172.0 points to 2150.0.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 3527 to 153 and 54 ended unchanged.
Shares in Advantest Corp. (T:6857) fell to 52-week lows; falling 9.78% or 205.0 to 1891.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.56% to 25.22.
Crude oil for December delivery was down 0.27% or 0.18 to $66.64 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in December fell 0.12% or 0.09 to hit $76.08 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.64% or 7.80 to trade at $1235.60 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.03% to 112.28, while EUR/JPY rose 0.16% to 128.08.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 96.10.