Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Insurance, Gas & Water and Transportation Equipment sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.59%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nippon Steel&Sumitomo Metal Corp. (T:5401), which rose 6.37% or 118.5 points to trade at 1979.5 at the close. Meanwhile, Tokio Marine Holdings, Inc. (T:8766) added 6.37% or 201.0 points to end at 3355.0 and JFE Holdings, Inc. (T:5411) was up 6.28% or 78.0 points to 1320.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (T:3086), which fell 4.29% or 48.0 points to trade at 1071.0 at the close. Maruha Nichiro Corp (T:1333) declined 3.57% or 104.0 points to end at 2807.0 and Uny Group Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:8270) was down 3.05% or 27.0 points to 858.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1664 to 275 and 60 ended unchanged.
Shares in J.Front Retailing Co., Ltd. (T:3086) fell to 3-years lows; down 4.29% or 48.0 to 1071.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 11.75% to 29.44.
Crude oil for August delivery was up 0.82% or 0.39 to $48.24 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in September rose 0.59% or 0.29 to hit $49.55 a barrel, while the August Gold contract rose 0.46% or 6.10 to trade at $1324.00 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.45% to 102.31, while EUR/JPY fell 0.36% to 113.30.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.11% at 96.08.