Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Paper & Pulp, Glass and Automobiles & Parts sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.51% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nippon Yusen K.K (T:9101), which rose 6.93% or 15.0 points to trade at 231.5 at the close. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (T:3099) added 5.71% or 72.0 points to end at 1332.0 and JTEKT Corp. (T:6473) was up 5.56% or 104.0 points to 1974.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Toshiba Corp. (T:6502), which lost 2.12% or 6.0 points to trade at 276.8 in late trade. Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (T:6770) declined 0.81% or 23.0 points to end at 2803.0 and Kao Corp. (T:4452) shed 0.74% or 41.0 points to 5500.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2864 to 329 and 168 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.61% to 20.83.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.78% or 0.41 to $52.74 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.72% or 0.40 to hit $55.87 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.04% or 0.45 to trade at $1162.45 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.22% to 118.01, while EUR/JPY rose 0.25% to 122.85.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.01% at 103.25.