Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Steel, Retail and Paper & Pulp sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.48% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Takashimaya Co., Ltd. (TYO:8233), which rose 4.46% or 86.00 points to trade at 2,016.00 at the close. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (TYO:3099) added 4.36% or 62.00 points to end at 1,484.00 and J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (TYO:3086) was up 4.32% or 56.00 points to 1,353.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO:7201), which lost 3.54% or 20.00 points to trade at 545.70 in late trade. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (TYO:5713) declined 3.33% or 179.00 points to end at 5,197.00 and Ricoh Co., Ltd. (TYO:7752) shed 2.76% or 30.00 points to 1,058.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2262 to 1287 and 285 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 1.89% to 16.19.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for April delivery was down 0.43% or 0.33 to $77.25 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.25% or 0.21 to hit $83.08 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.11% or 2.05 to trade at $1,817.95 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.32% to 137.58, while EUR/JPY rose 0.27% to 145.04.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.11% at 105.71.