Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Insurance, Glass and Machinery sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 2.84%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (T:6770), which rose 7.68% or 136.0 points to trade at 1906.0 at the close. IHI Corp. (T:7013) added 7.66% or 17.0 points to end at 239.0 and Shinsei Bank, Ltd. (T:8303) was up 6.90% or 10.0 points to 155.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Takashimaya Co., Ltd. (T:8233), which lost 5.78% or 50.0 points to trade at 815.0 in late trade. Unitika, Ltd. (T:3103) declined 3.64% or 2.0 points to end at 53.0 and Pioneer Corp. (T:6773) shed 2.69% or 9.0 points to 325.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1656 to 189 and 70 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 2.96% to 25.25.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was down 2.02% or 0.85 to $41.32 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June fell 1.88% or 0.84 to hit $43.85 a barrel, while the June Gold contract fell 0.77% or 9.70 to trade at $1251.20 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.26% to 108.92, while EUR/JPY rose 0.03% to 123.70.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.24% at 94.25.