Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Gas & Water and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.50% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004), which rose 6.02% or 240.0 points to trade at 4230.0 at the close. Familymart Ltd (T:8028) added 5.35% or 165.0 points to end at 3250.0 and Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366) was up 4.56% or 14.0 points to 321.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Yaskawa Electric Corp. (T:6506), which lost 2.39% or 80.0 points to trade at 3270.0 in late trade. Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976) declined 2.11% or 49.0 points to end at 2273.0 and SUMCO Corp. (T:3436) shed 1.99% or 30.0 points to 1477.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2053 to 1420 and 235 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.23% to 16.83.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.65% or 0.36 to $55.86 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.34% or 0.22 to hit $65.58 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.05% or 0.65 to trade at $1327.85 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.13% to 110.42, while EUR/JPY fell 0.18% to 125.76.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 95.887.