Japanese stocks are up at the close; The Nikkei 225 rose 0.67% Via Investing.com

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

At the close in Tokyo, it added 0.67%.

The best performers of the session on the were Merchants Inc (TYO: ), which rose 7.56% or 167.00 points to trade at 2,377.00 at the close. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (TYO: ) added 6.71% or 41.00 points to end at 652.00 and IHI Corp. (TYO: ) was up 5.90% or 328.00 points to end at 5,891.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. (TYO: ), which decreased 2.57% or 295.00 points to trade at 11,200.00 at the close. Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (TYO: ) declined 2.27% or 54.00 points to end at 2,323.50 and Fukuoka Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: ) declined 2.27% or 89.00 points to end at 3,824.00.

Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2137 to 1463, with 272 ending unchanged.

Shares in Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co Ltd (TYO:) rose to 52-week highs; up 6.71% or 41.00 to 652.00.

which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, fell 6.47% to 27.61.

Crude oil for October delivery fell 0.29%, or 0.21, to $71.72 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodity trading, Brent crude for October delivery was down 0.11%, or 0.08, at $75.97 a barrel, while December gold futures were down 0.02 % or 0.60 to $2,546.90 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was down 0.02% at 145.23, while EUR/JPY was down 0.03% at 161.90.

US dollar index futures rose 0.13% to 101.04.