Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.35%

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 gained 0.35%.

The best performers of the session on the were Japan Steel Works Ltd (TYO:), which rose 7.12% or 400.00 points to trade at 6,015.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Mizuho Financial Group Inc (TYO:) added 6.63% or 234.00 points to end at 3,765.00 and Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (TYO:) was up 5.78% or 228.00 points to 4,173.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Dentsu Inc. (TYO:), which fell 14.59% or 700.00 points to trade at 4,097.00 at the close. Ebara Corp. (TYO:) declined 5.04% or 123.50 points to end at 2,327.00 and Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (TYO:) was down 4.42% or 77.50 points to 1,675.50.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1839 to 1736 and 286 ended unchanged.

Shares in Mizuho Financial Group Inc (TYO:) rose to 5-year highs; gaining 6.63% or 234.00 to 3,765.00. Shares in Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. (TYO:) fell to 5-year lows; losing 4.42% or 77.50 to 1,675.50.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 7.41% to 24.79.

Crude oil for December delivery was down 1.30% or 0.89 to $67.81 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in January fell 1.27% or 0.92 to hit $71.64 a barrel, while the December Gold Futures contract fell 0.29% or 7.40 to trade at $2,565.50 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.10% to 156.10, while EUR/JPY rose 0.10% to 164.73.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.02% at 106.62.