Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Glass, Insurance and Paper & Pulp sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 3.23%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Kobe Steel, Ltd. (T:5406), which rose 8.26% or 9.0 points to trade at 118.0 at the close. Meanwhile, NGK Insulators, Ltd. (T:5333) added 7.34% or 147.0 points to end at 2151.0 and Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co., Ltd. (T:4151) was up 6.19% or 112.0 points to 1921.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were SUMCO Corp. (T:3436), which fell 4.16% or 30.0 points to trade at 691.0 at the close. Toyobo Co., Ltd. (T:3101) declined 0.51% or 1.0 points to end at 196.0 and Yamaha Corp. (T:7951) was down 0.30% or 10.0 points to 3305.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1766 to 120 and 29 ended unchanged.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.41% to 26.11.
Crude oil for May delivery was down 1.70% or 0.71 to $41.05 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in June fell 1.58% or 0.70 to hit $43.48 a barrel, while the June Gold contract fell 0.96% or 12.00 to trade at $1236.30 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.15% to 109.50, while EUR/JPY rose 0.06% to 123.35.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.20% at 95.00.