Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.32%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Communication, Warehousing and Precision Instruments sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.32%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO:7201), which rose 8.66% or 41.30 points to trade at 518.30 at the close. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp (TYO:7203) added 4.57% or 129.50 points to end at 2,964.50 and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7012) was up 4.28% or 291.00 points to 7,089.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Rakuten Inc (TYO:4755), which fell 2.50% or 22.30 points to trade at 869.50 at the close. Konami Corp. (TYO:9766) declined 2.28% or 340.00 points to end at 14,575.00 and Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:6504) was down 2.17% or 185.00 points to 8,326.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1835 to 1811 and 252 ended unchanged.

Shares in Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7012) rose to 5-year highs; rising 4.28% or 291.00 to 7,089.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.78% to 21.84.

Crude oil for February delivery was down 0.09% or 0.06 to $70.10 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 1.24% or 0.90 to hit $73.22 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $2,633.50 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.17% to 157.45, while EUR/JPY rose 0.29% to 163.90.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 108.00.