TOKYO: Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Railway & Bus, Retail and Food sectors led shares higher.
At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 1.68%.
The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:4272), which rose 5.47% or 75.0 points to trade at 1445.0 at the close. Meanwhile, West Japan Railway Co. (TOKYO:9021) added 5.32% or 393.0 points to end at 7782.0 and Central Japan Railway Co. (TOKYO:9022) was up 5.21% or 1075.0 points to 21720.0 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Unitika, Ltd. (TOKYO:3103), which fell 1.67% or 1.0 points to trade at 59.0 at the close. Toray Industries, Inc. (TOKYO:3402) declined 1.37% or 13.5 points to end at 969.7 and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:4568) was down 1.19% or 27.5 points to 2292.5.
Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1551 to 330 and 2 ended unchanged.
Shares in West Japan Railway Co. (TOKYO:9021) rose to all time highs; rising 5.32% or 393.0 to 7782.0.
The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 11.56% to 17.37 a new 6-months low.
Crude oil for July delivery was down 0.35% or 0.21 to $61.22 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July fell 0.18% or 0.12 to hit $65.58 a barrel, while the August Gold contract fell 0.13% or 1.60 to trade at $1185.00 a troy ounce.
USD/JPY was up 0.46% to 123.20, while EUR/JPY rose 0.29% to 139.32.
The US Dollar Index was up 0.23% at 94.80.
