Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Mining and Food sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.42% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K. (T:4061), which rose 4.38% or 165.0 points to trade at 3935.0 at the close. Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. (T:5301) added 4.20% or 57.0 points to end at 1413.0 and Ebara Corp. (T:6361) was up 4.15% or 165.0 points to 4145.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Astellas Pharma Inc. (T:4503), which lost 1.14% or 18.3 points to trade at 1581.0 in late trade. Honda Motor Co Ltd (T:7267) declined 1.06% or 40.0 points to end at 3717.0 and Shinsei Bank, Ltd. (T:8303) shed 0.82% or 13.5 points to 1625.5.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2775 to 601 and 176 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.80% to 16.88 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.98% or 0.65 to $67.17 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.87% or 0.62 to hit $72.20 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.10% or 1.40 to trade at $1348.10 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.27% to 107.30, while EUR/JPY rose 0.20% to 132.66.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 89.37.