Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Steel and Rubber sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.31%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Shinsei Bank, Ltd. (TOKYO:8303), which rose 4.13% or 10.0 points to trade at 252.0 at the close. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings (TOKYO:8309) added 3.12% or 17.6 points to end at 582.2 and Toray Industries, Inc. (TOKYO:3402) was up 2.89% or 29.0 points to 1033.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. (TOKYO:5002), which lost 5.01% or 59.0 points to trade at 1119.0 in late trade. Toyobo Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:3101) declined 4.76% or 10.0 points to end at 200.0 and The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:5101) shed 4.13% or 109.0 points to 2529.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1117 to 765 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.90% to 18.48.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for August delivery was down 0.03% or 0.02 to $59.68 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in August rose 0.38% or 0.24 to hit $63.44 a barrel, while the August Gold contract rose 0.09% or 1.10 to trade at $1172.90 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.15% to 123.44, while EUR/JPY fell 0.23% to 138.23.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.05% at 95.42.