Japan shares lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 1.32%

Investing.com – Japan equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Fishery , Financial Services and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 1.32%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Toshiba Corp. (T: 6502 ), which rose 9.12% or 22.5 points to trade at 269.1 at the close. Advantest Corp. (T: 6857 ) added 2.92% or 59.0 points to end at 2077.0 and Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T: 5707 ) was up 2.50% or 12.0 points to 492.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included NKSJ Holdings, Inc. (T: 8630 ), which lost 3.35% or 139.0 points to trade at 4005.0 in late trade. Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (T: 4151 ) declined 3.26% or 52.0 points to end at 1541.0 and Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (T: 3382 ) shed 3.23% or 150.0 points to 4497.0.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2002 to 1037 and 288 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.43% to 19.94.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for March delivery was down 0.15% or 0.08 to $53.14 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 0.09% or 0.05 to hit $55.44 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.93% or 11.15 to trade at $1216.05 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 1.13% to 113.33, while EUR/JPY fell 0.80% to 121.75.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.49% at 100.28.