Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Transportation Equipment, Communication and Steel sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.60% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (T:5541), which rose 7.49% or 205.0 points to trade at 2942.0 at the close. Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (T:7003) added 4.36% or 53.0 points to end at 1268.0 and Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366) was up 3.69% or 11.0 points to 309.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Fujitsu Ltd. (T:6702), which lost 3.26% or 253.0 points to trade at 7518.0 in late trade. Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T:7735) declined 2.51% or 120.0 points to end at 4655.0 and Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. (T:5002) shed 2.50% or 45.0 points to 1753.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2024 to 1430 and 250 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.57% to 18.34.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.12% or 0.07 to $56.52 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in April fell 0.18% or 0.12 to hit $66.33 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.05% or 0.65 to trade at $1345.45 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.24% to 110.88, while EUR/JPY rose 0.25% to 125.74.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 96.410.