Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Mining, Insurance and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 3.00% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Softbank Group Corp. (T:9984), which rose 7.22% or 365.00 points to trade at 5,421.00 at the close. Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976) added 6.03% or 320.00 points to end at 5,630.00 and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (T:4568) was up 5.87% or 142.00 points to 2,560.50 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (T:9107), which lost 4.31% or 380.00 points to trade at 8,430.00 in late trade. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (T:9104) declined 2.97% or 340.00 points to end at 11,100.00 and Nippon Yusen K.K (T:9101) shed 2.96% or 360.00 points to 11,810.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 3006 to 627 and 173 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.52% to 24.40 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.57% or 0.62 to $109.89 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.70% or 0.81 to hit $116.29 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.09% or 1.70 to trade at $1,919.80 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.21% to 121.06, while EUR/JPY rose 0.17% to 133.43.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 98.56.