Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Shipbuilding, Insurance and Retail sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.74% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were The Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. (T:8750), which rose 8.63% or 119.0 points to trade at 1497.5 at the close. Pioneer Corp. (T:6773) added 7.00% or 18.0 points to end at 275.0 and Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. (T:9983) was up 5.20% or 1800.0 points to 36390.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. (T:4272), which lost 8.31% or 101.0 points to trade at 1115.0 in late trade. Tokyo Dome Corp. (T:9681) declined 5.48% or 28.0 points to end at 483.0 and Japan Tobacco Inc (T:2914) shed 1.31% or 61.0 points to 4585.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1659 to 171 and 60 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 4.35% to 27.69 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was down 0.88% or 0.34 to $38.16 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.32% or 0.13 to hit $40.26 a barrel, while the April Gold contract fell 0.36% or 4.50 to trade at $1254.90 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.05% to 113.77, while EUR/JPY rose 0.06% to 126.96.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.03% at 96.26.