Tokyo equities ended the trading day in negative territory on Monday, with losses concentrated in the Paper & Pulp, Transport and Communication sectors leading the slide. At the close, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.83%.
Among constituents, Mercari Inc (TYO:4385) was the session's top gainer on the Nikkei 225, climbing 7.24% or 220.00 points to finish at 3,260.00. Nitori Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:9843) added 4.87% or 128.50 points to close at 2,766.00, while Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801) rose 3.03% or 370.00 points to end the day at 12,575.00.
On the downside, Fujitsu Ltd. (TYO:6702) recorded the largest decline among Nikkei names, falling 7.83% or 343.00 points to close at 4,037.00. Renesas Electronics Corp (TYO:6723) dropped 6.31% or 158.50 points to finish at 2,355.00, and SUMCO Corp. (TYO:3436) slid 6.09% or 101.50 points to 1,564.50.
Market breadth was weak on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with 2,961 stocks falling compared with 686 advancing, while 188 issues finished unchanged.
Separately, shares of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801) reached a five-year high during the session, closing up 3.03% to 12,575.00.
Volatility rose as measured by the Nikkei Volatility index - it gained 6.92% to reach 31.66, indicating elevated implied volatility in Nikkei 225 options.
Commodities moved higher in the session. Crude oil for March delivery increased 0.77% or 0.47 to trade at $61.54 a barrel. Brent oil for April delivery rose 0.78% or 0.51 to $65.58 a barrel. The April Gold Futures contract was higher by 1.89% or 94.70, trading at $5,111.70 a troy ounce.
Currency markets showed a softer yen against the dollar and euro benchmarks. USD/JPY declined 0.94% to 154.26, while EUR/JPY fell 0.74% to 182.81. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index Futures eased 0.40% to 97.01.
Key takeaway - Tokyo closed lower across a broad swath of sectors, with several large-cap names posting steep losses while a handful of stocks posted notable gains. Volatility and commodity price moves accompanied the equity weakness.