Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.54%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Steel, Transportation Equipment and Services sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.54% to hit a new 3-months high.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7011), which rose 6.38% or 529.00 points to trade at 8,824.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO:7735) added 4.45% or 440.00 points to end at 10,335.00 and Resonac Holdings Corp (TYO:4004) was up 4.38% or 117.00 points to 2,789.50 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Oji Holdings Corp. (TYO:3861), which fell 2.69% or 15.80 points to trade at 570.60 at the close. Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (TYO:3863) declined 2.37% or 32.00 points to end at 1,321.00 and Daikin Industries, Ltd. (TYO:6367) was down 2.35% or 555.00 points to 23,095.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2195 to 1421 and 264 ended unchanged.

Shares in Resonac Holdings Corp (TYO:4004) rose to 52-week highs; rising 4.38% or 117.00 to 2,789.50.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.82% to 17.87 a new 1-month low.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.03% or 0.02 to $76.41 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January fell 0.09% or 0.07 to hit $81.35 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.02% or 0.35 to trade at $1,993.65 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.19% to 149.27, while EUR/JPY fell 0.18% to 162.80.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 103.63.