Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.37% By Investing.com

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Thursday, as losses in the , and sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the declined 0.37%.

The best performers of the session on the were Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:), which rose 5.02% or 155.00 points to trade at 3,245.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:) added 4.13% or 225.00 points to end at 5,676.00 and Hitachi Zosen Corp. (TYO:) was up 3.10% or 26.00 points to 865.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Shiseido Co., Ltd. (TYO:), which fell 2.32% or 151.00 points to trade at 6,360.00 at the close. Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TYO:) declined 2.06% or 75.00 points to end at 3,574.00 and Nisshin Seifun Group Inc. (TYO:) was down 1.98% or 31.00 points to 1,532.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1855 to 1634 and 322 ended unchanged.

Shares in Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:) rose to 3-years highs; gaining 5.02% or 155.00 to 3,245.00. Shares in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 4.13% or 225.00 to 5,676.00.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 9.71% to 17.11 a new 52-week low.

Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.82% or 0.63 to $76.65 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.68% or 0.56 to hit $82.14 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.85% or 15.45 to trade at $1,803.25 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.23% to 135.77, while EUR/JPY fell 0.06% to 144.62.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 103.51.