Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gas & Water, Pharmaceutical Industry and Transportation Equipment sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.08%.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. (TYO:8766), which rose 2.61% or 200.00 points to trade at 7,859.00 at the close. Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (TYO:5202) added 2.60% or 10.00 points to end at 394.00 and Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO:2501) was up 2.60% or 75.00 points to 2,955.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (TYO:5713), which lost 6.00% or 273.00 points to trade at 4,274.00 in late trade. Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (TYO:4507) declined 5.57% or 378.00 points to end at 6,408.00 and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co (TYO:6305) shed 5.30% or 167.00 points to 2,983.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2089 to 1376 and 276 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.88% to 24.21.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for August delivery was down 1.91% or 2.03 to $104.16 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in August fell 1.70% or 1.90 to hit $109.84 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract fell 0.10% or 1.85 to trade at $1,836.55 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.52% to 135.54, while EUR/JPY fell 1.01% to 142.51.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.35% at 104.35.