Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Steel, Services and Pharmaceutical Industry sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.48% to hit a new 3-months high.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were DeNA Co Ltd (T:2432), which rose 5.74% or 98.0 points to trade at 1805.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Kao Corp. (T:4452) added 5.25% or 428.0 points to end at 8584.0 and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co (T:6305) was up 4.89% or 139.0 points to 2982.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were The Kansai Electric Power Co. (T:9503), which fell 4.92% or 71.0 points to trade at 1372.5 at the close. Kikkoman Corp. (T:2801) declined 4.35% or 240.0 points to end at 5280.0 and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (T:5713) was down 2.70% or 97.0 points to 3494.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2329 to 1178 and 223 ended unchanged.
Shares in The Kansai Electric Power Co. (T:9503) fell to 52-week lows; down 4.92% or 71.0 to 1372.5.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.71% to 15.56.
Crude oil for June delivery was up 0.08% or 0.05 to $65.94 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.55% or 0.41 to hit $74.98 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.00% or 0.05 to trade at $1279.45 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.33% to 111.80, while EUR/JPY fell 0.36% to 124.64.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.03% at 97.822.