Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 1.42%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic , Mining and Food sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.42% to hit a new 1-month high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K. (T: 4061 ), which rose 4.38% or 165.0 points to trade at 3935.0 at the close. Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. (T: 5301 ) added 4.20% or 57.0 points to end at 1413.0 and Ebara Corp. (T: 6361 ) was up 4.15% or 165.0 points to 4145.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Astellas Pharma Inc. (T: 4503 ), which lost 1.14% or 18.3 points to trade at 1581.0 in late trade. Honda Motor Co Ltd (T: 7267 ) declined 1.06% or 40.0 points to end at 3717.0 and Shinsei Bank, Ltd. (T: 8303 ) shed 0.82% or 13.5 points to 1625.5.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2775 to 601 and 176 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 5.80% to 16.88 a new 1-month low.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.98% or 0.65 to $67.17 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.87% or 0.62 to hit $72.20 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.10% or 1.40 to trade at $1348.10 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.27% to 107.30, while EUR/JPY rose 0.20% to 132.66.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.17% at 89.37.