Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.97%

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 lost 0.97%.

The best performers of the session on the were Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (TYO:), which rose 4.94% or 213.00 points to trade at 4,528.00 at the close. Meanwhile, M3 Inc (TYO:) added 4.43% or 61.00 points to end at 1,437.50 and Taiheiyo Cement Corp. (TYO:) was up 3.81% or 131.00 points to 3,566.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were IHI Corp. (TYO:), which fell 3.94% or 358.00 points to trade at 8,721.00 at the close. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. (TYO:) declined 3.44% or 161.00 points to end at 4,522.00 and East Japan Railway Co. (TYO:) was down 3.27% or 94.00 points to 2,779.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1782 to 1746 and 337 ended unchanged.

Shares in Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (TYO:) rose to 5-year highs; rising 4.94% or 213.00 to 4,528.00.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.63% to 24.65.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.73% or 0.50 to $69.25 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January rose 0.67% or 0.49 to hit $73.30 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.44% or 11.60 to trade at $2,663.30 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.34% to 154.90, while EUR/JPY fell 0.35% to 163.33.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.08% at 106.53.