Japan shares higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 1.14%

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 1.14%.

The biggest gainers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. (T:5706), which rose 5.82% or 210.0 points to trade at 3820.0 at the close. Konica Minolta, Inc. (T:4902) added 4.79% or 28.0 points to end at 612.0 and Minebea Mitsumi Inc (T:6479) was up 4.67% or 124.0 points to 2779.0 in late trade.

Biggest losers included Hino Motors, Ltd. (T:7205), which lost 5.19% or 52.0 points to trade at 949.0 in late trade. Softbank Group Corp. (T:9984) declined 2.84% or 265.0 points to end at 9075.0 and Isuzu Motors, Ltd. (T:7202) shed 1.94% or 23.0 points to 1163.0.

Advancing stocks outnumbered falling ones by 2871 to 722 and 168 ended unchanged on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was unchanged 0% to 25.65.

In commodities trading, Crude oil for May delivery was down 1.39% or 0.85 to $60.33 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for delivery in May fell 1.20% or 0.77 to hit $63.64 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.07% or 1.15 to trade at $1732.05 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.24% to 108.98, while EUR/JPY rose 0.26% to 128.75.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.12% at 92.638.