Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 0.17%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were lower after the close on Friday, as losses in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors led shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.17%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984), which rose 5.00% or 535.00 points to trade at 11,230.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Ebara Corp. (TYO:6361) added 4.29% or 122.00 points to end at 2,965.50 and Japan Steel Works Ltd (TYO:5631) was up 3.57% or 293.00 points to 8,502.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), which fell 4.44% or 520.00 points to trade at 11,185.00 at the close. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. (TYO:8830) declined 3.80% or 209.00 points to end at 5,291.00 and Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:3382) was down 3.71% or 74.50 points to 1,933.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2408 to 1197 and 245 ended unchanged.

Shares in SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.00% or 535.00 to 11,230.00. Shares in Ebara Corp. (TYO:6361) rose to 3-years highs; rising 4.29% or 122.00 to 2,965.50.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.33% to 24.35.

Crude oil for August delivery was up 0.77% or 0.52 to $68.06 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 0.70% or 0.49 to hit $70.01 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.09% or 3.10 to trade at $3,348.40 a troy ounce.

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USD/JPY was up 0.11% to 148.76, while EUR/JPY rose 0.38% to 172.98.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.27% at 98.18.

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