Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.97%

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

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.97%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T: 7735 ), which rose 7.98% or 375.0 points to trade at 5075.0 at the close. Chiyoda Corp. (T: 6366 ) added 5.73% or 16.0 points to end at 295.0 and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (T: 9107 ) was up 5.66% or 70.0 points to 1306.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (T: 4519 ), which lost 2.67% or 200.0 points to trade at 7300.0 in late trade. Takara Holdings Inc. (T: 2531 ) declined 2.46% or 33.0 points to end at 1308.0 and Tokyu Fudosan (T: 3289 ) shed 2.31% or 15.0 points to 633.0.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2324 to 1174 and 211 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 4.18% to 17.20.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.46% or 0.29 to $62.87 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.69% or 0.48 to hit $69.85 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.04% or 0.55 to trade at $1295.95 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.19% to 111.53, while EUR/JPY rose 0.49% to 125.31.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.27% at 96.662.