Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Pharmaceutical Industry, Gas & Water and Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.50% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004), which rose 6.02% or 240.0 points to trade at 4230.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Familymart Ltd (T:8028) added 5.35% or 165.0 points to end at 3250.0 and Chiyoda Corp. (T:6366) was up 4.56% or 14.0 points to 321.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Yaskawa Electric Corp. (T:6506), which fell 2.39% or 80.0 points to trade at 3270.0 at the close. Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T:6976) declined 2.11% or 49.0 points to end at 2273.0 and SUMCO Corp. (T:3436) was down 1.99% or 30.0 points to 1477.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2053 to 1420 and 235 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 1.23% to 16.83.
Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.65% or 0.36 to $55.86 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 0.35% or 0.23 to hit $65.59 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.05% or 0.65 to trade at $1327.85 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.13% to 110.43, while EUR/JPY fell 0.18% to 125.77.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 95.887.