In Tokyo, Japan stocks closed higher on Thursday, with gains across sectors such as Insurance, Real Estate, and Fishery driving the market.
At the close of trading, the Nikkei 225 index rose by 0.46%.
Leading the gains on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi Materials Corp. (TYO:5711), which surged by 9.70% or 254.50 points to 2,878.50 by the close. Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. (TYO:9501) also saw significant gains, adding 6.76% or 54.10 points to reach 854.80, while Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (TYO:5713) climbed by 6.69% or 272.00 points to 4,335.00 in late trade.
However, some stocks experienced declines, with Ebara Corp. (TYO:6361) leading the losses by falling 4.82% or 655.00 points to 12,935.00 at the close. Eisai Co., Ltd. (TYO:4523) also saw a decline of 3.70% or 240.00 points, ending at 6,248.00, while Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) dropped by 2.35% or 157.00 points to 6,526.00.
Overall, rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with 2538 stocks rising, 1124 falling, and 208 ending unchanged.
Mitsubishi Materials Corp. (TYO:5711) saw its shares reach three-year highs, surging by 9.70% to 2,878.50.
The Nikkei Volatility index, which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, decreased by 2.00% to 21.52.
In commodity trading, crude oil for April delivery slightly declined by 0.03% to $79.70 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent oil for May delivery rose by 0.04% to $84.06 a barrel, and April Gold Futures fell by 0.36% to $2,172.95 a troy ounce.
The USD/JPY pair rose by 0.12% to 147.91, while the EUR/JPY pair increased by 0.04% to 161.82.
The US Dollar Index Futures also rose by 0.11% to 102.51.