Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.20%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the added 0.20%.

The best performers of the session on the were Hitachi Ltd (TYO:), which rose 4.49% or 301.00 points to trade at 7,007.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Advantest Corp. (TYO:) added 3.66% or 350.00 points to end at 9,920.00 and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO:) was up 3.48% or 350.00 points to 10,410.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (TYO:), which fell 8.47% or 42.00 points to trade at 454.00 at the close. SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc. (TYO:) declined 5.67% or 28.00 points to end at 466.00 and Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (TYO:) was down 4.47% or 184.00 points to 3,933.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2168 to 1364 and 274 ended unchanged.

Shares in Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. (TYO:) fell to 52-week lows; losing 8.47% or 42.00 to 454.00.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 1.00% to 17.14.

Crude oil for March delivery was up 0.65% or 0.50 to $76.91 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in April rose 0.62% or 0.51 to hit $83.35 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract rose 1.49% or 28.90 to trade at $1,971.70 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.27% to 128.59, while EUR/JPY fell 0.10% to 141.54.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.22% at 100.81.