Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.03%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gas&Water, Paper&Pulp and Railway&Bus sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.03%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Shiseido Co., Ltd. (TYO:4911), which rose 4.32% or 180.00 points to trade at 4,349.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107) added 4.22% or 268.00 points to end at 6,616.00 and Mitsui Engineering&Shipbuilding (TYO:7003) was up 3.91% or 24.00 points to 638.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp (TYO:4188), which fell 4.31% or 40.00 points to trade at 888.10 at the close. CyberAgent Inc (TYO:4751) declined 2.62% or 22.70 points to end at 843.70 and Sumitomo Realty&Development Co. (TYO:8830) was down 1.56% or 66.00 points to 4,172.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2242 to 1389 and 265 ended unchanged.

Shares in Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107) rose to all time highs; rising 4.22% or 268.00 to 6,616.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 2.17% to 16.71.

Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.88% or 0.65 to $74.54 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.86% or 0.68 to hit $80.07 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.45% or 9.15 to trade at $2,060.45 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.13% to 142.28, while EUR/JPY fell 0.01% to 156.45.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.01% at 101.49.