Tokyo's stock market closed higher on Wednesday as gains concentrated in Real Estate, Banking and Textile stocks pushed the benchmark upward. The Nikkei 225 finished the session 5.31% higher.
Among individual contributors on the Nikkei 225, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. (TYO:5801) led the list of winners, jumping 12.87% or 3,705.00 points to finish at 32,490.00. Archion Corp (TYO:543A) added 11.37% or 44.00 points to close at 431.00, while Advantest Corp. (TYO:6857) rose 10.67% or 2,170.00 points to end the session at 22,500.00.
Not all components moved higher. Nexon Co Ltd (TYO:3659) was the largest decliner listed, slipping 4.76% or 139.50 points to close at 2,789.50. KDDI Corp. (TYO:9433) fell 3.32% or 90.50 points to finish at 2,633.00, and NTT Inc (TYO:9432) decreased 0.83% or 1.30 points to 155.90.
Market breadth was strongly positive at the Tokyo Stock Exchange, with 3,371 advancing issues versus 329 decliners and 99 stocks unchanged.
Furukawa Electric's share price reached a notable milestone during the session, rising to a level described as a five-year high after the 12.87% gain to 32,490.00.
Measures of option-implied volatility for the index softened. The Nikkei Volatility index, which tracks implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, declined 2.75% to 48.09.
Commodity markets saw weaker crude benchmarks on the session. Crude oil for May delivery retreated 3.71% or 3.76 to $97.62 a barrel. Brent oil for June delivery fell 4.26% or 4.43 to $99.54 a barrel. Precious metals moved higher: the June Gold Futures contract rose 1.51% or 70.57 to trade at $4,749.17 a troy ounce.
Currency moves accompanying the session included USD/JPY slipping 0.30% to 158.33, while EUR/JPY inched up 0.02% to 183.39. The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.39% at 99.37.
Summary observations:
- The Nikkei 225 recorded a sizable single-session gain of 5.31%.
- Individual large-cap names posted double-digit percentage moves, with Furukawa Electric, Archion and Advantest among the session's top performers.
- Energy benchmarks moved lower while gold futures strengthened, and implied equity-market volatility eased.