Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.46%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Retail, Transport and Communication sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.46%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (TYO:9107), which rose 5.45% or 153.00 points to trade at 2,960.00 at the close. Meanwhile, GS Yuasa Corp. (TYO:6674) added 4.75% or 95.00 points to end at 2,096.00 and Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (TYO:8801) was up 4.30% or 101.00 points to 2,449.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. (TYO:8766), which fell 1.59% or 45.50 points to trade at 2,815.00 at the close. Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (TYO:5202) declined 1.55% or 9.00 points to end at 573.00 and Nichirei Corp. (TYO:2871) was down 1.49% or 43.00 points to 2,839.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2472 to 1077 and 275 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.08% to 20.74.

Crude oil for February delivery was up 0.27% or 0.21 to $78.50 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.18% or 0.15 to hit $82.35 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.09% or 1.65 to trade at $1,823.75 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.40% to 131.93, while EUR/JPY fell 0.09% to 140.33.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 103.63.