Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Machinery, Chemical and Fishery sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.13% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (T:3086), which rose 2.71% or 46.0 points to trade at 1741.0 at the close. Astellas Pharma Inc. (T:4503) added 2.04% or 30.2 points to end at 1510.5 and Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:3382) was up 1.88% or 86.0 points to 4662.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Toho Zinc Co., Ltd. (T:5707), which lost 4.19% or 220.0 points to trade at 5030.0 in late trade. Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (T:5801) declined 3.29% or 220.0 points to end at 6460.0 and Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T:5706) shed 3.07% or 180.0 points to 5675.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 2037 to 1232 and 222 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.55% to 15.82.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.27% or 0.14 to $52.02 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in December rose 0.62% or 0.36 to hit $58.24 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.08% or 1.06 to trade at $1285.14 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.33% to 112.57, while EUR/JPY rose 0.27% to 132.37.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 93.45.