TOKYO: Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Precision Instruments, Gas & Water and Construction sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.34%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were SUMCO Corp. (T:3436), which rose 5.11% or 81.0 points to trade at 1665.0 at the close. Meanwhile, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (T:5101) added 3.75% or 84.0 points to end at 2325.0 and Olympus Corp. (T:7733) was up 3.71% or 150.0 points to 4190.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Toshiba Corp. (T:6502), which fell 7.08% or 15.6 points to trade at 204.6 at the close. Yokogawa Electric Corp. (T:6841) declined 2.55% or 47.0 points to end at 1793.0 and NKSJ Holdings, Inc. (T:8630) was down 1.79% or 77.0 points to 4229.0.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1827 to 1141 and 374 ended unchanged.
Shares in The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. (T:5101) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 3.75% or 84.0 to 2325.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 1.64% to 14.89.
Crude oil for April delivery was up 0.82% or 0.41 to $50.69 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 1.05% or 0.56 to hit $53.67 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.36% or 4.35 to trade at $1205.05 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.16% to 114.52, while EUR/JPY rose 0.07% to 120.63.
The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 102.17.
