Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Banking, Finance & Investment and Shipbuilding sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.20% to hit a new 1-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (TO) (T:8306), which rose 6.57% or 35.7 points to trade at 579.3 at the close. Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (T:8354) added 6.36% or 25.0 points to end at 418.0 and Sharp Corp. (T:6753) was up 5.09% or 7.0 points to 144.5 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (T:7211), which lost 13.64% or 79.5 points to trade at 503.5 in late trade. Meidensha Corp. (T:6508) declined 4.46% or 22.0 points to end at 471.0 and GS Yuasa Corp. (T:6674) shed 2.77% or 13.0 points to 456.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1202 to 658 and 141 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.52% to 29.09.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for June delivery was up 1.20% or 0.52 to $43.70 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 1.01% or 0.45 to hit $44.98 a barrel, while the June Gold contract fell 0.29% or 3.60 to trade at $1246.70 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.99% to 110.54, while EUR/JPY rose 1.04% to 124.84.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.05% at 94.67.