Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Banking, Steel and Power sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.86% to hit a new 6-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T:5706), which rose 5.83% or 182.5 points to trade at 3315.0 at the close. Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004) added 5.53% or 310.0 points to end at 5920.0 and JX Holdings, Inc. (T:5020) was up 5.28% or 44.0 points to 877.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included TOTO Ltd. (T:5332), which lost 3.72% or 180.0 points to trade at 4655.0 in late trade. Kao Corp. (T:4452) declined 3.64% or 327.0 points to end at 8645.0 and Eisai Co., Ltd. (T:4523) shed 3.11% or 330.0 points to 10270.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2507 to 947 and 187 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 2.90% to 16.10.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.65% or 0.46 to $70.78 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in November rose 0.83% or 0.65 to hit $79.35 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.12% or 1.50 to trade at $1212.80 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.20% to 112.70, while EUR/JPY rose 0.31% to 132.84.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.04% at 93.51.