Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Power, Gas & Water and Paper & Pulp sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.92%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Inpex Corp. (T:1605), which rose 4.89% or 62.0 points to trade at 1330.5 at the close. Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (T:4519) added 4.44% or 240.0 points to end at 5640.0 and Komatsu Ltd. (T:6301) was up 4.22% or 150.0 points to 3706.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Japan Tobacco Inc (T:2914), which lost 4.45% or 132.0 points to trade at 2836.0 in late trade. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (T:2802) declined 2.80% or 54.5 points to end at 1888.5 and Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. (T:5214) shed 2.55% or 80.0 points to 3060.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2102 to 1269 and 201 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.50% to 22.02.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was down 0.08% or 0.05 to $65.12 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.23% or 0.16 to hit $69.31 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.81% or 10.70 to trade at $1332.20 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.30% to 105.73, while EUR/JPY rose 0.03% to 130.88.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.25% at 89.06.