Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Insurance, Glass and Banking sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.71% to hit a new 1-month high.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (TYO:7211), which rose 4.30% or 22.00 points to trade at 534.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (TYO:7201) added 4.10% or 20.10 points to end at 509.80 and Mazda Motor Corp (TYO:7261) was up 3.69% or 41.00 points to 1,151.00 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO:2501), which fell 3.59% or 115.00 points to trade at 3,085.00 at the close. Aozora Bank, Ltd. (TYO:8304) declined 1.72% or 46.00 points to end at 2,630.00 and Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (TYO:5541) was down 1.65% or 33.00 points to 1,968.00.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2569 to 992 and 249 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.43% to 15.14 a new 3-years low.
Crude oil for March delivery was up 0.88% or 0.69 to $79.28 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 0.63% or 0.54 to hit $85.92 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 0.21% or 3.95 to trade at $1,849.25 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.21% to 133.84, while EUR/JPY fell 0.05% to 143.29.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.23% at 103.60.