Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Steel, Retail and Paper & Pulp sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.11% to hit a new 3-month high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (TYO:4063), which rose 3.13% or 615.00 points to trade at 20,280.00 at the close. Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) added 3.12% or 1,470.00 points to end at 48,600.00 and SUMCO Corp. (TYO:3436) was up 2.85% or 54.00 points to 1,949.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (TYO:4506), which lost 2.14% or 18.00 points to trade at 822.00 in late trade. Eisai Co., Ltd. (TYO:4523) declined 1.81% or 137.00 points to end at 7,425.00 and Inpex Corp. (TYO:1605) shed 1.45% or 22.00 points to 1,495.00.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2353 to 1215 and 266 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 0.59% or 0.47 to $79.21 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.62% or 0.53 to hit $85.30 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.40% or 7.35 to trade at $1,861.95 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.20% to 135.59, while EUR/JPY fell 0.01% to 144.44.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.14% at 104.34.