Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Shipbuilding, Paper & Pulp and Glass sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 2.95% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. (T:5301), which rose 7.81% or 109.0 points to trade at 1504.0 at the close. Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004) added 6.54% or 315.0 points to end at 5130.0 and Fanuc Corp. (T:6954) was up 6.41% or 1735.0 points to 28795.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included DOWA Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:5714), which lost 0.22% or 10.0 points to trade at 4590.0 in late trade. Rakuten Inc (T:4755) declined 0.05% or 0.5 points to end at 1032.0 and Hokuetsu Kishu Paper Co., Ltd. (T:3865) gained 0.15% or 1.0 points to 674.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2884 to 576 and 126 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.49% to 16.03.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.92% or 0.57 to $62.20 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.60% or 0.41 to hit $68.25 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.52% or 6.80 to trade at $1311.70 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.04% to 112.56, while EUR/JPY rose 0.18% to 135.44.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.09% at 91.81.