Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Insurance, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Banking sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.25% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (TYO:6976), which rose 7.14% or 293.00 points to trade at 4,398.00 at the close. Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO:7735) added 6.82% or 990.00 points to end at 15,515.00 and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7011) was up 6.48% or 118.50 points to 1,946.50 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (TYO:8354), which lost 3.10% or 137.00 points to trade at 4,281.00 in late trade. Shizuoka Financial Group Inc (TYO:5831) declined 2.96% or 47.00 points to end at 1,539.50 and Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd (TYO:5101) shed 2.80% or 100.00 points to 3,468.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2047 to 1545 and 284 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.56% to 16.04 a new 6-month low.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for August delivery was up 0.51% or 0.42 to $83.23 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 0.52% or 0.45 to hit $86.69 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.43% or 10.15 to trade at $2,343.55 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.29% to 161.91, while EUR/JPY rose 0.24% to 173.89.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.05% at 105.46.