After the market closed on Wednesday, Japanese stocks rose as increases in the chemical, machinery, and marine transport industries drove up stock prices.
The Nikkei 225 gained 0.07 percent in Tokyo at the close.
On the Nikkei 225, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (TYO:9531) had the greatest session performance, rising 5.48% or 149.00 points to close at 2,868.00. Alps Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:6770) was up 5.06% or 67.00 points to 1,390.00 in late afternoon, and Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO:7735) gained 5.12% or 490.00 points to close at 10,060.00.
TOTO Ltd. (TYO:5332), which lost 8.37% of its value or 420.00 points to close at 4,600.00, was the worst-performing stock of the session. Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (TYO:2802) was down 3.65% or 156.00 points to 4,117.00, and Seiko Epson Corp. (TYO:6724) dropped 5.83% or 117.00 points to close at 1,890.00.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the number of stocks going up was 1788 to 1774, while the number of stocks going down was 1774.
Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (TYO:9531) stock reached levels not seen in three years, rising 5.48%, or 149.00, to 2,868.00.
The Nikkei Volatility Index, which gauges the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, fell 0.18% to 16.97, a new low for the past month.
Crude oil for March delivery increased by 0.18 percent, or 0.23%, to $79.05 a barrel. In other commodity trades, the April Gold Futures contract dropped 0.25%, or 4.95, to trade at $1,940.35 a troy ounce, while Brent oil for delivery in April increased 0.07%, or 0.06, to hit $85.52 a barrel.
While EUR/JPY increased by 0.34% to 141.78, USD/JPY increased by 0.23% to 130.40.
At 101.89, the US Dollar Index Futures were down 0.02%.
