Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Gas & Water, Machinery and Fishery sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.61%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Showa Denko K.K. (T:4004), which rose 5.00% or 225.0 points to trade at 4725.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Softbank Corp. (T:9984) added 4.64% or 383.0 points to end at 8641.0 and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (T:4502) was up 4.46% or 192.0 points to 4494.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506), which fell 4.39% or 105.0 points to trade at 2287.0 at the close. Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (T:8354) declined 3.83% or 22.0 points to end at 552.0 and The Chiba Bank, Ltd. (T:8331) was down 3.78% or 31.0 points to 790.0.
Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1853 to 1488 and 212 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 12.38% to 17.34.
Crude oil for August delivery was down 0.90% or 0.59 to $65.12 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in August fell 1.34% or 1.00 to hit $73.74 a barrel, while the August Gold Futures contract fell 0.69% or 8.80 to trade at $1265.70 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.22% to 110.60, while EUR/JPY rose 0.04% to 127.77.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.23% at 95.00.