Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.20%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Warehousing , Precision Instruments and Retail sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.20%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Tokuyama Corp. (T: 4043 ), which rose 3.74% or 18.0 points to trade at 499.0 at the close. Okuma Corp. (T: 6103 ) added 3.42% or 35.0 points to end at 1059.0 and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T: 7735 ) was up 3.09% or 220.0 points to 7345.1 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (T: 4151 ), which lost 2.52% or 47.0 points to trade at 1815.0 in late trade. NKSJ Holdings, Inc. (T: 8630 ) declined 1.93% or 82.0 points to end at 4168.0 and Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (T: 9104 ) shed 1.48% or 5.0 points to 332.5.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2102 to 1060 and 268 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.57% to 17.53.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for October delivery was up 0.22% or 0.11 to $49.27 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in November rose 0.61% or 0.33 to hit $54.53 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.32% or 4.25 to trade at $1343.25 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.25% to 108.96, while EUR/JPY rose 0.09% to 130.31.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.26% at 91.97.