Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Insurance, Steel and Automobiles & Parts sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.57%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sony Corp. (T:6758), which rose 6.46% or 186.5 points to trade at 3072.0 at the close. Meanwhile, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (T:2502) added 5.11% or 180.0 points to end at 3700.0 and MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings (T:8725) was up 4.96% or 146.5 points to 3101.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nisshinbo Holdings Inc. (T:3105), which fell 3.02% or 36.0 points to trade at 1155.0 at the close. Tokuyama Corp. (T:4043) declined 2.85% or 8.0 points to end at 273.0 and Astellas Pharma Inc. (T:4503) was down 2.76% or 40.5 points to 1429.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1355 to 496 and 146 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 0.85% to 26.17.
Crude oil for July delivery was up 1.44% or 0.70 to $49.32 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 1.34% or 0.65 to hit $49.26 a barrel, while the June Gold contract fell 0.42% or 5.15 to trade at $1224.05 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.04% to 110.04, while EUR/JPY rose 0.13% to 122.69.
The US Dollar Index was down 0.05% at 95.54.