Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.14%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Shipbuilding , Railway & Bus and Mining sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.14% to hit a new 1-month high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Pacific Metals Co., Ltd. (T: 5541 ), which rose 6.25% or 270.00 points to trade at 4,590.00 at the close. Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (T: 4507 ) added 4.49% or 340.00 points to end at 7,904.00 and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (T: 4568 ) was up 3.67% or 95.50 points to 2,700.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included T&D Holdings, Inc. (T: 8795 ), which lost 4.37% or 78.00 points to trade at 1,707.00 in late trade. Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (T: 4151 ) declined 3.50% or 110.00 points to end at 3,030.00 and Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd. (T: 5202 ) shed 2.70% or 12.00 points to 433.00.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1793 to 1776 and 247 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.16% to 24.32 a new 1-month low.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was down 0.18% or 0.20 to $112.14 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 0.14% or 0.17 to hit $118.86 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.39% or 7.65 to trade at $1,954.55 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.41% to 121.82, while EUR/JPY fell 0.13% to 134.32.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.21% at 98.60.