Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.14%

Japan equities were higher at the close on Friday, as gains in the Paper & Pulp, Railway & Bus and Real Estate sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.14%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Toho Co., Ltd. (T:9602), which rose 3.95% or 180.0 points to trade at 4735.0 at the close. Marui Group Co., Ltd. (T:8252) added 3.18% or 68.0 points to end at 2206.0 and Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. (T:1925) was up 3.06% or 102.0 points to 3432.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (T:9501), which lost 4.73% or 16.0 points to trade at 322.0 in late trade. Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T:7735) declined 2.92% or 320.0 points to end at 10640.0 and Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (T:3382) shed 2.74% or 128.0 points to 4547.0.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 1743 to 1719 and 268 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0% to 16.82.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.27% or 0.17 to $63.63 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.28% or 0.19 to hit $67.13 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.21% or 3.65 to trade at $1763.15 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.14% to 108.89, while EUR/JPY rose 0.20% to 130.37.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.07% at 91.680.