Japan stocks lower at close of trade; Nikkei 225 down 2.66%

　　The Nikkei 225 Index sank 2.66% to 26,431 while the broader Topix Index slumped 2.71% to 1,864 on Monday, closing at their lowest levels in over two months and taking cues from a negative lead on Wall Street, as risk assets remain under pressure from heightened inflationary pressures, rising interest rates and global recession fears. At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 declined 2.66% to hit a new 1-month low.

　　The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were KDDI Corp. (TYO:9433), which rose 0.58% or 25.00 points to trade at 4,305.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Nippon Telegraph&Telephone Corp (TYO:9432) added 0.54% or 21.00 points to end at 3,888.00 and Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (TYO:3863) was up 0.46% or 4.00 points to 883.00 in late trade.

　　The worst performers of the session were Inpex Corp. (TYO:1605), which fell 9.87% or 149.00 points to trade at 1,360.00 at the close. Idemitsu Kosan Co Ltd (TYO:5019) declined 7.63% or 265.00 points to end at 3,210.00 and Fujikura Ltd. (TYO:5803) was down 7.36% or 70.00 points to 881.00.

　　Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 3235 to 425 and 152 ended unchanged. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 4.25% to 21.61.

　　Crude oil for November delivery was down 0.46% or 0.36 to $78.38 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in December fell 0.55% or 0.47 to hit $84.56 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.21% or 3.50 to trade at $1,652.10 a troy ounce.

　　USD/JPY was up 0.29% to 143.74, while EUR/JPY rose 0.21% to 139.17. As The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.18% at 113.17.