Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.67%

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

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.67%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Asahi Kasei Corp. (T:3407), which rose 3.60% or 40.5 points to trade at 1164.0 at the close. Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (T:6504) added 3.57% or 210.0 points to end at 6100.0 and Yamaha Motor Co Ltd (T:7272) was up 3.11% or 93.0 points to 3080.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included ANA Holdings Inc (T:9202), which lost 5.65% or 148.0 points to trade at 2472.5 in late trade. Suzuki Motor Corp. (T:7269) declined 2.50% or 130.0 points to end at 5074.0 and Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (T:2802) shed 2.41% or 85.0 points to 3436.0.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1935 to 1608 and 232 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0% to 19.54.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.20% or 0.16 to $78.23 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in January fell 0.04% or 0.03 to hit $82.22 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract rose 0.54% or 9.65 to trade at $1793.95 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.07% to 115.33, while EUR/JPY rose 0.13% to 129.39.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.17% at 96.705.

Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.67%