Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.25%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Precision Instruments, Electrical/Machinery and Paper&Pulp sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.25%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), which rose 5.59% or 245.00 points to trade at 4,629.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) added 4.71% or 1,100.00 points to end at 24,445.00 and Mitsui Engineering&Shipbuilding (TYO:7003) was up 4.28% or 25.00 points to 609.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7012), which fell 4.12% or 128.00 points to trade at 2,982.00 at the close. Toho Co., Ltd. (TYO:9602) declined 3.72% or 200.00 points to end at 5,175.00 and Fujitsu Ltd. (TYO:6702) was down 3.66% or 815.00 points to 21,435.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1851 to 1753 and 270 ended unchanged.

Shares in Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035) rose to 52-week highs; up 4.71% or 1,100.00 to 24,445.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 7.66% to 18.21.

Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.48% or 0.33 to $68.28 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.49% or 0.36 to hit $72.88 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.24% or 4.85 to trade at $1,988.35 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.23% to 145.77, while EUR/JPY rose 0.10% to 157.16.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 103.54.