Japan stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the Nikkei 225 down 0.56%. The decline was led by losses in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Mining, and Retail sectors.
Nippon Yusen K.K (TYO:9101) was among the best performers, rising 8.01%, while Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) and SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) were among the worst performers, falling 4.93% and 3.77%, respectively.
The broader market showed 2817 rising stocks, 922 declining stocks, and 153 unchanged stocks on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Nippon Yusen K.K reached all-time highs, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. hit 5-year highs, and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding reached 3-year highs during the session.
In commodities, crude oil for February delivery was up 0.98% to $73.41 a barrel, while Brent oil for March delivery rose 0.75% to $78.84 a barrel. The February Gold Futures contract increased 0.56% to $2,054.15 a troy ounce.
The USD/JPY pair was up 0.28% to 143.70, and the EUR/JPY pair rose 0.38% to 157.09. The US Dollar Index Futures were down 0.05% at 102.14.