Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.36% By Investing.com

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Friday, as gains in the , and sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the added 0.36%.

The best performers of the session on the were Nikon Corp. (T:), which rose 7.55% or 96.00 points to trade at 1,368.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Asahi Kasei Corp. (T:) added 4.11% or 42.00 points to end at 1,064.00 and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (T:) was up 4.04% or 146.00 points to 3,760.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (T:), which fell 5.79% or 450.00 points to trade at 7,320.00 at the close. Mitsubishi Corp. (T:) declined 3.61% or 156.00 points to end at 4,168.00 and Marubeni Corp. (T:) was down 3.46% or 48.00 points to 1,339.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1849 to 1659 and 230 ended unchanged.

Shares in Nikon Corp. (T:) rose to 52-week highs; rising 7.55% or 96.00 to 1,368.00. Shares in Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp (T:) rose to 3-years highs; rising 4.04% or 146.00 to 3,760.00.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 8.71% to 19.97.

Crude oil for May delivery was up 0.49% or 0.47 to $96.50 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in June rose 0.30% or 0.30 to hit $100.88 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract fell 0.42% or 8.20 to trade at $1,929.60 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.13% to 124.07, while EUR/JPY fell 0.11% to 134.65.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.20% at 99.96.