Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Shipbuilding, Mining and Automobiles & Parts sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 2.09% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd (TYO:4151), which rose 19.38% or 439.50 points to trade at 2,707.50 at the close. SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) added 11.06% or 732.00 points to end at 7,350.00 and Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) was up 7.56% or 462.00 points to 6,577.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Shimizu Corp. (TYO:1803), which lost 16.15% or 169.20 points to trade at 878.80 in late trade. DeNA Co Ltd (TYO:2432) declined 10.24% or 156.50 points to end at 1,372.00 and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (TYO:5706) shed 9.23% or 449.00 points to 4,415.00.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2274 to 1374 and 230 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.45% to 19.68.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for March delivery was up 0.45% or 0.33 to $74.19 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 0.48% or 0.38 to hit $79.59 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.17% or 3.40 to trade at $2,048.30 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.34% to 148.68, while EUR/JPY rose 0.44% to 160.32.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.00% at 103.91.