Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.22%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Monday, as gains in the Machinery, Gas & Water and Transport sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.22%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Rakuten Inc (TYO:4755), which rose 6.73% or 58.10 points to trade at 921.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO:9064) added 3.67% or 64.50 points to end at 1,820.00 and SUMCO Corp. (TYO:3436) was up 3.57% or 42.00 points to 1,219.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857), which fell 4.71% or 415.00 points to trade at 8,400.00 at the close. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7012) declined 3.22% or 201.00 points to end at 6,041.00 and SMC Corp (TYO:6273) was down 2.91% or 1,900.00 points to 63,290.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2272 to 1322 and 278 ended unchanged.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.10% to 22.92.

Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.40% or 0.27 to $67.47 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.37% or 0.26 to hit $71.38 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.20% or 5.45 to trade at $2,665.05 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.11% to 150.20, while EUR/JPY rose 0.11% to 158.42.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.08% at 105.82.