Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gas & Water, Insurance and Communication sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.01% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd. (T:1332), which rose 6.11% or 38.0 points to trade at 660.0 at the close. Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (T:2502) added 5.56% or 261.0 points to end at 4955.0 and Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (T:2501) was up 4.39% or 140.0 points to 3330.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004), which lost 2.81% or 100.0 points to trade at 3465.0 in late trade. Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (T:9062) declined 2.74% or 200.0 points to end at 7100.0 and Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. (T:5301) shed 2.04% or 22.0 points to 1059.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2196 to 1064 and 234 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 4.47% to 15.67.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.32% or 0.16 to $50.14 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in December rose 0.66% or 0.37 to hit $56.17 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.23% or 2.88 to trade at $1279.68 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.10% to 112.64, while EUR/JPY rose 0.02% to 132.62.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 93.28.