Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Steel, Non-Metal Minerals and Retail sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.71%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:5707), which rose 9.89% or 44.0 points to trade at 489.0 at the close. Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:5541) added 7.59% or 28.0 points to end at 397.0 and Shimizu Corp. (TOKYO:1803) was up 6.54% or 55.0 points to 896.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:6767), which lost 8.11% or 77.0 points to trade at 873.0 in late trade. Yokogawa Electric Corp. (TOKYO:6841) declined 5.26% or 76.0 points to end at 1370.0 and Nippon Soda Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:4041) shed 5.22% or 40.0 points to 726.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 328 to 267 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.97% to 18.37 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for June delivery was up 1.13% or 0.69 to $61.44 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 0.83% or 0.56 to hit $67.94 a barrel, while the June Gold contract rose 0.08% or 0.90 to trade at $1193.30 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.07% to 119.78, while EUR/JPY fell 0.03% to 134.37.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.18% at 94.53.