Japanese stocks closed down 1.05 percent at the close of trading Thursday, after the Nikkei index fell more than 4 percent at the end of Wednesday's session, after official data showed that wages continued to grow in July by 0.4 percent from the previous year for the second month in a row, giving the central bank room to continue raising interest rates. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 390.52 points, or 1.05 percent, to 36,657.09, and the broader Topix index finished 12.73 points, or 0.48 percent, lower at 2,620.76, Tokyo Stock Exchange reported. One of the factors contributing to the decline in the performance of Japanese stocks today was the appreciation of the local currency, as the US currency fell against its Japanese counterpart by 0.39 percent to 143.16 yen in morning trading. Source: Qatar News Agency