Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.29%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic, Marine Transport and Precision Instruments sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.29%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nikon Corp. (TYO:7731), which rose 5.55% or 94.50 points to trade at 1,797.50 at the close. Meanwhile, SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) added 3.97% or 345.00 points to end at 9,041.00 and Ricoh Co., Ltd. (TYO:7752) was up 3.12% or 50.50 points to 1,667.50 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Aeon Co., Ltd. (TYO:8267), which fell 8.66% or 336.00 points to trade at 3,542.00 at the close. Keisei Electric Railway Co., Ltd. (TYO:9009) declined 3.03% or 123.00 points to end at 3,930.00 and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO:7012) was down 2.92% or 191.00 points to 6,339.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2257 to 1306 and 280 ended unchanged.

Shares in Nikon Corp. (TYO:7731) rose to 52-week highs; rising 5.55% or 94.50 to 1,797.50.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 4.35% to 32.08.

Crude oil for November delivery was up 0.61% or 0.45 to $73.69 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in December rose 0.55% or 0.42 to hit $77.00 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.27% or 7.15 to trade at $2,633.15 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.11% to 149.13, while EUR/JPY fell 0.07% to 163.17.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 102.65.