Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Warehousing, Transportation Equipment and Paper & Pulp sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.26% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Rakuten Inc (T:4755), which rose 4.75% or 38.0 points to trade at 838.0 at the close. Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707) added 3.94% or 125.0 points to end at 3295.0 and Komatsu Ltd. (T:6301) was up 3.79% or 103.5 points to 2836.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included IHI Corp. (T:7013), which lost 5.67% or 185.0 points to trade at 3080.0 in late trade. Toyobo Co., Ltd. (T:3101) declined 2.82% or 46.0 points to end at 1583.0 and The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. (T:5631) shed 2.79% or 58.0 points to 2020.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1724 to 1715 and 261 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.20% to 18.12.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.09% or 0.05 to $57.21 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in April fell 0.07% or 0.05 to hit $67.03 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.66% or 8.95 to trade at $1338.95 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 110.77, while EUR/JPY rose 0.09% to 125.75.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 96.310.