Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the Insurance, Finance & Investment and Banking sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.30%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Citizen Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:7762), which rose 3.70% or 26.0 points to trade at 729.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Inpex Corp. (T:1605) added 3.68% or 40.0 points to end at 1127.0 and Concordia Financial Group Ltd (T:7186) was up 3.26% or 19.8 points to 627.1 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506), which fell 2.83% or 57.0 points to trade at 1954.0 at the close. Tokuyama Corp. (T:4043) declined 2.12% or 11.0 points to end at 507.0 and Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (T:4063) was down 2.08% or 210.0 points to 9890.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1566 to 1423 and 346 ended unchanged.
Shares in Concordia Financial Group Ltd (T:7186) rose to all time highs; rising 3.26% or 19.8 to 627.1.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 0.16% to 18.78.
Crude oil for March delivery was down 0.04% or 0.02 to $53.76 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 0.12% or 0.07 to hit $56.17 a barrel, while the February Gold contract fell 0.71% or 8.45 to trade at $1181.35 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.55% to 115.18, while EUR/JPY rose 0.39% to 122.83.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.27% at 100.79.