Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Insurance, Food and Railway & Bus sectors propelled shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.35% to hit a new 5-year high.
The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (T:4519), which rose 6.23% or 295.0 points to trade at 5030.0 at the close. Komatsu Ltd. (T:6301) added 5.05% or 166.0 points to end at 3455.0 and Softbank Corp. (T:9984) was up 3.61% or 343.0 points to 9836.0 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T:5706), which lost 4.95% or 300.0 points to trade at 5755.0 in late trade. Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (T:4507) declined 4.38% or 278.0 points to end at 6066.0 and Familymart Ltd (T:8028) shed 3.31% or 210.0 points to 6140.0.
Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1884 to 1353 and 253 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.06% to 15.36.
In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was down 0.76% or 0.39 to $50.91 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in December fell 0.49% or 0.28 to hit $56.66 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.77% or 9.98 to trade at $1298.88 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.20% to 112.27, while EUR/JPY fell 0.16% to 133.18.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 92.77.