Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.09%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Transportation Equipment, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Insurance sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.09% to hit a new 1-month low.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Fanuc Corp. (TYO:6954), which rose 5.67% or 235.00 points to trade at 4,378.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Toho Co., Ltd. (TYO:9602) added 4.59% or 278.00 points to end at 6,329.00 and Keyence (TYO:6861) was up 3.75% or 2,330.00 points to 64,450.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801), which fell 4.30% or 297.00 points to trade at 6,603.00 at the close. Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO:2501) declined 4.16% or 293.00 points to end at 6,755.00 and Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) was down 3.54% or 334.00 points to 9,090.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1892 to 1685 and 294 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 11.78% to 24.30.

Crude oil for March delivery was up 0.56% or 0.43 to $76.80 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March rose 0.44% or 0.35 to hit $80.27 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.51% or 13.69 to trade at $2,695.99 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.42% to 157.27, while EUR/JPY fell 0.60% to 161.85.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.01% at 109.10.