Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.55%

Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Marine Transport, Steel and Communication sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.55%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (TYO:4506), which rose 6.07% or 35.00 points to trade at 612.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Renesas Electronics Corp (TYO:6723) added 4.23% or 83.00 points to end at 2,045.00 and Sony Corp (TYO:6758) was up 4.12% or 132.00 points to 3,338.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Fujikura Ltd. (TYO:5803), which fell 5.45% or 337.00 points to trade at 5,851.00 at the close. Takara Holdings Inc. (TYO:2531) declined 2.10% or 27.50 points to end at 1,284.50 and Nintendo Co Ltd (TYO:7974) was down 1.94% or 179.00 points to 9,037.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1863 to 1669 and 327 ended unchanged.

Shares in Sony Corp (TYO:6758) rose to all time highs; gaining 4.12% or 132.00 to 3,338.00.

The Nikkei Volatility, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 3.10% to 22.92.

Crude oil for January delivery was down 0.48% or 0.33 to $68.04 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in February fell 0.43% or 0.31 to hit $71.83 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract rose 0.21% or 5.51 to trade at $2,691.31 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.04% to 151.24, while EUR/JPY rose 0.12% to 159.77.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.05% at 105.76.