Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Transport, Steel and Transportation Equipment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.79%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506), which rose 6.01% or 195.0 points to trade at 3440.0 at the close. Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (T:4568) added 3.98% or 158.0 points to end at 4130.0 and Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. (T:8804) was up 3.94% or 49.0 points to 1293.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included KDDI Corp. (T:9433), which lost 3.79% or 103.0 points to trade at 2616.0 in late trade. Familymart Ltd (T:8028) declined 3.41% or 570.0 points to end at 16130.0 and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (T:9432) shed 3.06% or 145.0 points to 4600.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2090 to 1399 and 209 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.68% to 20.49.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.14% or 0.07 to $50.36 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.47% or 0.28 to hit $58.81 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.15% or 1.80 to trade at $1231.60 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.34% to 113.30, while EUR/JPY fell 0.15% to 129.03.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.06% at 96.620.