Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.66%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Shipbuilding , Glass and Non-Metal Minerals sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.66% to hit a new 52-week high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (T: 6976 ), which rose 6.20% or 83.0 points to trade at 1422.0 at the close. SUMCO Corp. (T: 3436 ) added 4.74% or 72.0 points to end at 1592.0 and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (T: 6302 ) was up 4.25% or 31.0 points to 761.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included DeNA Co Ltd (T: 2432 ), which lost 6.79% or 208.0 points to trade at 2857.0 in late trade. Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. (T: 8766 ) declined 3.40% or 179.0 points to end at 5082.0 and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings (T: 8725 ) shed 2.69% or 102.0 points to 3688.0.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1802 to 1220 and 332 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 2.16% to 18.47.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for January delivery was up 0.31% or 0.16 to $51.06 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 0.24% or 0.13 to hit $54.15 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.48% or 5.45 to trade at $1135.25 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.08% to 118.10, while EUR/JPY rose 0.15% to 123.28.

The US Dollar Index was down 0.17% at 102.97.