Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Mining, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Shipbuilding sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.12% to hit a new 6-months high.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Inpex Corp. (T:1605), which rose 9.95% or 108.0 points to trade at 1193.0 at the close. Meanwhile, JGC Corp. (T:1963) added 8.05% or 152.0 points to end at 2040.0 and JX Holdings, Inc. (T:5020) was up 7.40% or 32.3 points to 468.5 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Asahi Kasei Corp. (T:3407), which fell 2.49% or 25.3 points to trade at 992.2 at the close. ANA Holdings Inc. (T:9202) declined 2.49% or 7.9 points to end at 309.7 and Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (T:3863) was down 1.92% or 38.0 points to 1940.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1786 to 1236 and 318 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 4.65% to 20.26.
Crude oil for January delivery was up 1.03% or 0.51 to $49.95 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February rose 1.16% or 0.60 to hit $52.44 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.30% or 3.55 to trade at $1177.45 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was down 0.46% to 113.92, while EUR/JPY fell 0.17% to 121.01.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.31% at 101.31.