Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Friday, as losses in the Shipbuilding, Insurance and Finance & Investment sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.54% to hit a new 3-month low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sharp Corp. (T:6753), which rose 14.68% or 16.0 points to trade at 125.0 at the close. Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (T:9062) added 3.71% or 19.0 points to end at 531.0 and Comsys Holdings Corp. (T:1721) was up 2.79% or 44.0 points to 1623.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (T:7012), which lost 6.55% or 26.0 points to trade at 371.0 in late trade. Pioneer Corp. (T:6773) declined 4.81% or 14.0 points to end at 277.0 and IHI Corp. (T:7013) shed 4.50% or 13.0 points to 276.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1129 to 759 and 1 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 4.06% to 33.05 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was down 3.03% or 0.94 to $30.25 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 2.35% or 0.73 to hit $30.27 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.87% or 9.30 to trade at $1082.90 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.27% to 117.74, while EUR/JPY fell 0.08% to 128.19.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.08% at 99.04.