Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.15%

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

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.15% to hit a new all time high.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sharp Corp (TYO:6753), which rose 5.31% or 44.60 points to trade at 884.40 at the close. Meanwhile, Suzuki Motor Corp. (TYO:7269) added 3.74% or 246.00 points to end at 6,828.00 and Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO:7201) was up 3.47% or 21.60 points to 643.20 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TYO:4519), which fell 3.75% or 229.00 points to trade at 5,871.00 at the close. Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) declined 2.92% or 197.00 points to end at 6,550.00 and Komatsu Ltd. (TYO:6301) was down 2.15% or 99.00 points to 4,507.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2110 to 1508 and 259 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.44% to 18.83 a new 1-month low.

Crude oil for May delivery was down 0.64% or 0.52 to $80.55 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.64% or 0.55 to hit $85.23 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.46% or 10.00 to trade at $2,174.70 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.12% to 151.43, while EUR/JPY fell 0.37% to 164.05.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.22% at 103.89.