Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors propelled shares lower.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 2.27% to hit a new 52-week low.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (T:9531), which rose 3.51% or 80.0 points to trade at 2356.0 at the close. Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (T:9532) added 3.49% or 59.0 points to end at 1748.0 and Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (T:9501) was up 2.72% or 10.0 points to 378.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976), which lost 6.89% or 209.0 points to trade at 2826.0 in late trade. Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T:7735) declined 6.14% or 315.0 points to end at 4815.0 and Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366) shed 5.81% or 15.0 points to 243.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2778 to 888 and 120 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0.00% to 44.43.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was down 1.22% or 0.42 to $33.94 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 1.05% or 0.39 to hit $36.83 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.21% or 3.50 to trade at $1663.80 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.86% to 104.72, while EUR/JPY fell 0.31% to 118.77.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.32% at 96.080.