Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Transportation Equipment, Communication and Retail sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.73% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. (T:9983), which rose 7.89% or 4380.0 points to trade at 59880.0 at the close. Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366) added 6.38% or 19.0 points to end at 317.0 and Softbank Group Corp. (T:9984) was up 4.89% or 535.0 points to 11475.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. (T:1925), which lost 5.55% or 192.0 points to trade at 3266.0 in late trade. Ricoh Co., Ltd. (T:7752) declined 3.09% or 36.0 points to end at 1129.0 and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506) shed 2.98% or 77.0 points to 2503.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2075 to 1376 and 253 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.47% to 15.60.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.94% or 0.60 to $64.18 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.75% or 0.53 to hit $71.36 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.21% or 2.75 to trade at $1296.05 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.26% to 111.94, while EUR/JPY rose 0.74% to 126.53.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.26% at 96.555.