Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Marine Transport, Transport and Transportation Equipment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.55%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Eisai Co., Ltd. (T:4523), which rose 9.84% or 549.0 points to trade at 6126.0 at the close. Hokuetsu Kishu Paper Co., Ltd. (T:3865) added 5.46% or 36.0 points to end at 695.0 and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T:7735) was up 4.90% or 485.0 points to 10380.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kobe Steel, Ltd. (T:5406), which lost 4.72% or 52.5 points to trade at 1059.0 in late trade. Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T:5706) declined 4.64% or 222.5 points to end at 4570.0 and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (T:7012) shed 4.50% or 160.0 points to 3397.5.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1778 to 1549 and 220 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 6.91% to 27.39.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was down 0.05% or 0.03 to $61.12 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.06% or 0.04 to hit $64.30 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.08% or 1.00 to trade at $1328.60 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.13% to 105.95, while EUR/JPY fell 0.15% to 131.47.
The US Dollar Index Futures was unchanged 0.00% at 89.56.