Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Paper & Pulp, Steel and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.10%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506), which rose 6.37% or 230.0 points to trade at 3840.0 at the close. Kikkoman Corp. (T:2801) added 5.44% or 310.0 points to end at 6010.0 and Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (T:2501) was up 4.35% or 103.0 points to 2470.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976), which lost 4.46% or 73.0 points to trade at 1564.0 in late trade. Toho Co., Ltd. (T:9602) declined 3.39% or 140.0 points to end at 3985.0 and Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366) shed 3.14% or 10.0 points to 308.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1957 to 1574 and 176 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 10.28% to 23.73.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was up 1.04% or 0.52 to $50.30 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.94% or 0.55 to hit $59.27 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.16% or 2.10 to trade at $1283.80 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.11% to 108.84, while EUR/JPY rose 0.31% to 124.77.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 95.338.