Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.03%

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

At the close in Tokyo, the added 0.03%.

The best performers of the session on the were Kobe Steel, Ltd. (TYO:), which rose 5.34% or 55.00 points to trade at 1,085.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (TYO:) added 4.68% or 38.50 points to end at 861.50 and Resona Holdings, Inc. (TYO:) was up 4.14% or 26.30 points to 662.30 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Keio Corp. (TYO:), which fell 3.75% or 180.00 points to trade at 4,615.00 at the close. East Japan Railway Co. (TYO:) declined 2.37% or 177.00 points to end at 7,302.00 and CyberAgent Inc (TYO:) was down 2.01% or 22.00 points to 1,075.00.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2734 to 888 and 193 ended unchanged.

Shares in CyberAgent Inc (TYO:) fell to 52-week lows; falling 2.01% or 22.00 to 1,075.00.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 15.64% to 21.52 a new 3-months high.

Crude oil for April delivery was up 1.32% or 0.94 to $72.27 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in May rose 1.23% or 0.95 to hit $78.40 a barrel, while the April Gold Futures contract fell 0.47% or 8.90 to trade at $1,902.00 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.52% to 134.91, while EUR/JPY rose 0.57% to 144.86.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.10% at 103.32.