Japan stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 declining by 1.77%. The losses were led by the Precision Instruments, Electrical/Machinery, and Machinery sectors.
At the close in Tokyo, the best performers on the Nikkei 225 included Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TYO:9501), rising by 10.55%, Sompo Holdings Inc (TYO:8630), gaining 5.12%, and Shizuoka Financial Group Inc (TYO:5831), up 1.84%.
Conversely, the worst performers included Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107), falling by 4.95%, Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), declining by 4.69%, and CyberAgent Inc (TYO:4751), down by 4.45%.
Falling stocks significantly outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with 2914 declining, 728 advancing, and 221 remaining unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, measuring the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, increased by 4.16% to 17.77.
In commodities trading, crude oil for January delivery rose by 0.55% to $69.76 a barrel, while Brent oil for February delivery increased by 0.58% to $74.73 a barrel. The February Gold Futures contract fell by 0.13% to $2,045.25 a troy ounce.
The USD/JPY was down by 0.64% to 146.37, and the EUR/JPY fell by 0.64% to 157.54. The US Dollar Index Futures were down by 0.03% at 104.08.