Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Insurance, Trading and Machinery sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.03% to hit a new all time high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were NKSJ Holdings, Inc. (TOKYO:8630), which rose 7.36% or 308.0 points to trade at 4493.0 at the close. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TOKYO:9501) added 6.74% or 37.0 points to end at 586.0 and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings (TOKYO:8725) was up 5.41% or 199.0 points to 3880.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:4151), which lost 3.66% or 64.0 points to trade at 1685.0 in late trade. SUMCO Corp. (TOKYO:3436) declined 3.15% or 56.0 points to end at 1719.0 and Yahoo Japan Corp. (TOKYO:4689) shed 3.05% or 16.0 points to 509.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1102 to 781 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 1.08% to 18.75.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for July delivery was up 0.25% or 0.15 to $59.13 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 0.25% or 0.16 to hit $65.19 a barrel, while the June Gold contract unchanged 0.00% or 0.00 to trade at $1208.70 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.24% to 121.05, while EUR/JPY fell 0.24% to 134.30.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.01% at 95.66.