Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.25%

Japan equities were higher at the close on Monday, as gains in the Services, Fishery and Trading sectors propelled shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.25%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Olympus Corp. (T:7733), which rose 4.31% or 100.00 points to trade at 2,420.50 at the close. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (T:4506) added 3.95% or 49.00 points to end at 1,290.00 and Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (T:4507) was up 3.89% or 282.00 points to 7,523.00 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (T:7735), which lost 2.94% or 360.00 points to trade at 11,870.00 in late trade. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. (T:3099) declined 2.74% or 27.00 points to end at 960.00 and Tokyo Electron Ltd. (T:8035) shed 2.66% or 1,640.00 points to 60,040.00.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2378 to 1173 and 231 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 3.23% to 21.27 a new 1-month low.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was up 1.01% or 1.00 to $100.27 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 1.03% or 1.08 to hit $105.47 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.34% or 6.50 to trade at $1,930.20 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.09% to 122.61, while EUR/JPY fell 0.08% to 135.28.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.02% at 98.61.