Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Precision Instruments and Power sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.46% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Panasonic Corp (TYO:6752), which rose 5.50% or 78.00 points to trade at 1,497.00 at the close. Kajima Corp. (TYO:1812) added 3.63% or 82.50 points to end at 2,354.50 and Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd (TYO:6178) was up 3.58% or 46.00 points to 1,332.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (TYO:2502), which lost 4.03% or 234.00 points to trade at 5,570.00 in late trade. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. (TYO:8830) declined 3.47% or 149.00 points to end at 4,151.00 and Shiseido Co., Ltd. (TYO:4911) shed 2.23% or 97.00 points to 4,255.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2632 to 1024 and 210 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.75% to 18.57 a new 1-month low.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for December delivery was up 0.11% or 0.08 to $72.98 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in January rose 0.08% or 0.06 to hit $77.48 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.02% or 0.35 to trade at $1,986.95 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 150.59, while EUR/JPY fell 0.08% to 163.44.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 104.25.