Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Gas & Water, Food and Communication sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.01%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. (T:5201), which rose 3.77% or 27.0 points to trade at 743.0 at the close. Nichirei Corp. (T:2871) added 3.26% or 73.0 points to end at 2315.0 and Taiheiyo Cement Corp. (T:5233) was up 3.18% or 11.0 points to 356.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included JFE Holdings, Inc. (T:5411), which lost 4.33% or 75.5 points to trade at 1670.0 in late trade. Kobe Steel, Ltd. (T:5406) declined 3.61% or 40.5 points to end at 1080.0 and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (T:5713) shed 3.26% or 51.5 points to 1528.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1769 to 1209 and 362 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 2.86% to 19.36.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for January delivery was up 1.26% or 0.57 to $45.80 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 1.35% or 0.64 to hit $47.96 a barrel, while the February Gold contract fell 0.07% or 0.80 to trade at $1190.00 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.32% to 112.74, while EUR/JPY rose 0.18% to 119.92.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.15% at 101.13.