Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Mining, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Steel sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.92%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (T:9104), which rose 4.37% or 15.0 points to trade at 358.5 at the close. Fanuc Corp. (T:6954) added 3.67% or 755.0 points to end at 21345.0 and Nippon Yusen K.K (T:9101) was up 3.47% or 8.0 points to 238.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Toshiba Corp. (T:6502), which lost 16.68% or 48.1 points to trade at 240.3 in late trade. DeNA Co Ltd (T:2432) declined 2.67% or 72.0 points to end at 2628.0 and Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:3382) shed 1.95% or 92.0 points to 4618.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2239 to 808 and 278 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.39% to 20.70.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.90% or 0.46 to $51.54 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.93% or 0.50 to hit $54.42 a barrel, while the February Gold contract fell 0.90% or 10.85 to trade at $1201.25 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 114.57, while EUR/JPY fell 0.01% to 121.93.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.09% at 101.22.