Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 1.47%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Transportation Equipment , Precision Instruments and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.47%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Aeon Co., Ltd. (TYO: 8267 ), which rose 10.97% or 262.00 points to trade at 2,650.00 at the close. Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd (TYO: 5101 ) added 6.10% or 110.00 points to end at 1,912.00 and Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd. (TYO: 5232 ) was up 4.53% or 155.00 points to 3,575.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Takashimaya Co., Ltd. (TYO: 8233 ), which lost 2.69% or 37.00 points to trade at 1,341.00 in late trade. J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (TYO: 3086 ) declined 2.28% or 24.00 points to end at 1,030.00 and DeNA Co Ltd (TYO: 2432 ) shed 2.24% or 43.00 points to 1,880.00.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2244 to 1255 and 272 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 6.72% to 23.97.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for August delivery was up 0.56% or 0.55 to $99.08 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 0.60% or 0.60 to hit $101.29 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract rose 0.23% or 4.05 to trade at $1,740.55 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.09% to 136.05, while EUR/JPY rose 0.21% to 138.66.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.10% at 106.79.