Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.13%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Machinery , Chemical and Fishery sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.13% to hit a new 5-year high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (T: 3086 ), which rose 2.71% or 46.0 points to trade at 1741.0 at the close. Astellas Pharma Inc. (T: 4503 ) added 2.04% or 30.2 points to end at 1510.5 and Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (T: 3382 ) was up 1.88% or 86.0 points to 4662.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T: 5707 ), which lost 4.19% or 220.0 points to trade at 5030.0 in late trade. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (T: 5801 ) declined 3.29% or 220.0 points to end at 6460.0 and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T: 5706 ) shed 3.07% or 180.0 points to 5675.0.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2037 to 1232 and 222 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.55% to 15.82.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.27% or 0.14 to $52.02 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in December rose 0.62% or 0.36 to hit $58.24 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.08% or 1.06 to trade at $1285.14 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.33% to 112.57, while EUR/JPY rose 0.27% to 132.37.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 93.45.