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

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 0.07%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Toho Co., Ltd. (TYO:9602), which rose 10.91% or 904.00 points to trade at 9,191.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (TYO:2502) added 2.99% or 55.00 points to end at 1,893.50 and IHI Corp. (TYO:7013) was up 2.52% or 385.00 points to 15,680.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Lasertec Corp (TYO:6920), which fell 4.96% or 945.00 points to trade at 18,125.00 at the close. SUMCO Corp. (TYO:3436) declined 2.73% or 32.50 points to end at 1,158.50 and Shiseido Co., Ltd. (TYO:4911) was down 2.64% or 65.00 points to 2,400.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2001 to 1537 and 300 ended unchanged.

Shares in Toho Co., Ltd. (TYO:9602) rose to all time highs; up 10.91% or 904.00 to 9,191.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.71% to 23.55.

Crude oil for August delivery was up 0.41% or 0.27 to $66.79 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 0.26% or 0.18 to hit $68.89 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.29% or 9.82 to trade at $3,346.52 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.17% to 148.64, while EUR/JPY rose 0.07% to 172.84.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.17% at 98.14.