Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 2.41%

Investing.com – Japan equities were higher at the close on Thursday, as gains in the Paper&Pulp, Machinery and Transport sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 2.41% to hit a new 1-month high.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TYO:8035), which rose 8.01% or 1,910.00 points to trade at 25,760.00 at the close. Ebara Corp. (TYO:6361) added 7.79% or 165.00 points to end at 2,282.00 and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (TYO:3099) was up 7.66% or 165.50 points to 2,326.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Kyowa Kirin Co Ltd (TYO:4151), which lost 3.01% or 81.00 points to trade at 2,612.50 in late trade. Astellas Pharma Inc. (TYO:4503) declined 1.21% or 21.00 points to end at 1,719.00 and Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd. (TYO:5301) shed 0.75% or 7.10 points to 939.50.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2943 to 762 and 187 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 6.95% to 24.77.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for November delivery was down 2.45% or 1.71 to $67.98 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in December fell 2.37% or 1.73 to hit $71.17 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.01% or 0.25 to trade at $2,684.45 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.00% to 144.76, while EUR/JPY rose 0.17% to 161.44.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 100.51.