Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Rubber, Glass and Automobiles & Parts sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.48% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were T&D Holdings, Inc. (T:8795), which rose 5.02% or 92.0 points to trade at 1924.0 at the close. Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (T:6770) added 3.87% or 130.0 points to end at 3490.0 and Sony Corp. (T:6758) was up 3.65% or 129.0 points to 3661.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707), which lost 2.40% or 14.0 points to trade at 569.0 in late trade. Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T:5706) declined 2.22% or 9.0 points to end at 396.5 and Kobe Steel, Ltd. (T:5406) shed 1.86% or 21.0 points to 1106.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2166 to 864 and 328 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.34% to 14.69.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.41% or 0.20 to $49.48 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.29% or 0.15 to hit $52.34 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.70% or 8.45 to trade at $1194.75 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.38% to 115.41, while EUR/JPY rose 0.51% to 122.21.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 101.97.