Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Electrical/Machinery, Precision Instruments and Communication sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.50% to hit a new all time high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO:2501), which rose 8.99% or 515.00 points to trade at 6,242.00 at the close. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (TYO:7211) added 8.63% or 39.20 points to end at 493.30 and Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. (TYO:8766) was up 4.83% or 304.00 points to 6,596.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7011), which lost 6.25% or 125.00 points to trade at 1,875.00 in late trade. GS Yuasa Corp. (TYO:6674) declined 5.86% or 183.00 points to end at 2,938.00 and Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd (TYO:5101) shed 3.41% or 117.00 points to 3,318.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2259 to 1339 and 272 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.17% to 17.47.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for August delivery was down 0.58% or 0.47 to $80.94 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in September fell 0.67% or 0.57 to hit $84.09 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.34% or 8.10 to trade at $2,376.00 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.07% to 161.43, while EUR/JPY rose 0.10% to 174.63.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 104.78.