Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Insurance, Banking and Gas & Water sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.05% to hit a new 52-week high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Pioneer Corp. (T:6773), which rose 3.88% or 8.0 points to trade at 214.0 at the close. Softbank Corp. (T:9984) added 3.66% or 326.0 points to end at 9231.5 and Kajima Corp. (T:1812) was up 3.08% or 32.0 points to 1070.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Konami Corp. (T:9766), which lost 3.91% or 220.0 points to trade at 5410.0 in late trade. Shiseido Co., Ltd. (T:4911) declined 3.64% or 167.0 points to end at 4423.0 and Trend Micro Inc. (T:4704) shed 3.21% or 180.0 points to 5430.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1711 to 1476 and 299 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.43% to 14.15.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.74% or 0.37 to $50.27 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in November rose 0.38% or 0.21 to hit $55.35 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.48% or 6.29 to trade at $1316.89 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.23% to 111.34, while EUR/JPY fell 0.09% to 133.73.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 91.43.