Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Insurance, Automobiles & Parts and Finance & Investment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.38%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Toshiba Corp. (T:6502), which rose 7.72% or 21.0 points to trade at 292.9 at the close. Nippon Soda Co., Ltd. (T:4041) added 3.64% or 17.0 points to end at 484.0 and Minebea Co., Ltd. (T:6479) was up 3.19% or 24.0 points to 777.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included The Kansai Electric Power Co. (T:9503), which lost 5.63% or 57.8 points to trade at 968.2 in late trade. Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707) declined 3.59% or 12.0 points to end at 322.0 and Sojitz Corp. (T:2768) shed 2.40% or 6.0 points to 244.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1053 to 784 and 160 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.11% to 33.80 a new 3-month high.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for July delivery was down 1.11% or 0.54 to $47.95 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in August fell 1.14% or 0.57 to hit $49.26 a barrel, while the August Gold contract rose 0.03% or 0.35 to trade at $1288.45 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.15% to 106.27, while EUR/JPY rose 0.32% to 119.30.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.12% at 94.92.