Lasertec Corp (TYO: 6920 ) declined 8.42% or 3,160.00 points to end at 34,310.00 and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO: 7735 ) was down 6.95% or 1,255.00 points to 16,810.00. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 3425 to 355 and 101 ended unchanged. Shares in Kao Corp. (TYO: 4452 ) rose to 52-week highs; rising 1.59% or 98.00 to 6,280.00. The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.08% to 22.77 a new 3-months high. Crude oil for May delivery was up 1.47% or 1.22 to $83.95 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 1.43% or 1.25 to hit $88.36 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.05% or 1.20 to trade at $2,396.80 a troy ounce. USD/JPY was down 0.16% to 154.38, while EUR/JPY fell 0.26% to 164.17. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 106.06.