Japan stocks higher at close of trade; Nikkei 225 up 0.77%

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 0.77% to hit a new 5-year high.

The best performers of the session on the were Ricoh Co., Ltd. (TYO:), which rose 7.69% or 81.00 points to trade at 1,134.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Yaskawa Electric Corp. (TYO:) added 5.38% or 300.00 points to end at 5,880.00 and Japan Steel Works Ltd (TYO:) was up 4.97% or 128.00 points to 2,705.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Advantest Corp. (TYO:), which fell 2.86% or 410.00 points to trade at 13,910.00 at the close. Kobe Steel, Ltd. (TYO:) declined 2.84% or 32.00 points to end at 1,096.00 and Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (TYO:) was down 2.83% or 32.00 points to 1,098.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 1789 to 1786 and 271 ended unchanged.

Shares in Yaskawa Electric Corp. (TYO:) rose to 52-week highs; gaining 5.38% or 300.00 to 5,880.00.

The , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was up 15.13% to 20.47 a new 1-month high.

Crude oil for June delivery was up 0.97% or 0.70 to $72.56 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in July rose 1.03% or 0.78 to hit $76.64 a barrel, while the June Gold Futures contract rose 0.39% or 7.55 to trade at $1,967.35 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.37% to 138.19, while EUR/JPY fell 0.31% to 148.94.

The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.15% at 103.30.