Japan shares lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 2.23%

Japan equities were lower at the close on Monday, as losses in the Transportation Equipment, Rubber and Non-Metal Minerals sectors propelled shares lower.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 2.23%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707), which rose 7.80% or 194.0 points to trade at 2682.0 at the close. Inpex Corp. (T:1605) added 6.56% or 75.0 points to end at 1218.0 and Kajima Corp. (T:1812) was up 5.88% or 86.0 points to 1548.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Bridgestone Corp. (T:5108), which lost 8.92% or 469.0 points to trade at 4789.0 in late trade. Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004) declined 6.96% or 172.0 points to end at 2298.0 and Amada Co., Ltd. (T:6113) shed 5.30% or 59.0 points to 1055.0.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2722 to 891 and 180 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.27% to 21.97.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for March delivery was up 1.32% or 1.23 to $94.33 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 1.18% or 1.11 to hit $95.55 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.70% or 12.95 to trade at $1855.05 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.03% to 115.38, while EUR/JPY fell 0.05% to 130.91.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 96.050.