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

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.56%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nippon Express Holdings,Inc. (TYO:9147), which rose 2.75% or 83.00 points to trade at 3,097.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Recruit Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:6098) added 2.32% or 190.00 points to end at 8,393.00 and NEC Corp. (TYO:6701) was up 2.24% or 88.00 points to 4,025.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Yaskawa Electric Corp. (TYO:6506), which fell 10.29% or 324.50 points to trade at 2,830.50 at the close. SMC Corp (TYO:6273) declined 7.00% or 3,650.00 points to end at 48,510.00 and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO:7201) was down 4.91% or 17.40 points to 336.90.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1835 to 1729 and 281 ended unchanged.

Shares in Nippon Express Holdings,Inc. (TYO:9147) rose to 52-week highs; up 2.75% or 83.00 to 3,097.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.25% to 26.67.

Crude oil for August delivery was down 0.21% or 0.14 to $66.36 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in September fell 0.31% or 0.21 to hit $68.09 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract fell 0.88% or 29.35 to trade at $3,317.15 a troy ounce.