Investing.com – Japan stocks were higher after the close on Thursday, as gains in the Precision Instruments , Communication and Non-Metal Minerals sectors led shares higher.

At the close in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.98%.

The best performers of the session on the Nikkei 225 were Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (TYO: 7011 ), which rose 8.55% or 178.50 points to trade at 2,265.50 at the close. Meanwhile, SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO: 9984 ) added 5.13% or 525.00 points to end at 10,755.00 and Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (TYO: 5802 ) was up 5.12% or 149.00 points to 3,057.00 in late trade.

The worst performers of the session were Hino Motors, Ltd. (TYO: 7205 ), which fell 7.66% or 46.90 points to trade at 565.20 at the close. Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO: 2501 ) declined 3.27% or 228.00 points to end at 6,750.00 and Lasertec Corp (TYO: 6920 ) was down 3.25% or 510.00 points to 15,200.00.

Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Tokyo Stock Exchange by 2114 to 1447 and 304 ended unchanged.

Shares in Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd. (TYO: 5802 ) rose to all time highs; rising 5.12% or 149.00 to 3,057.00.

The Nikkei Volatility , which measures the implied volatility of Nikkei 225 options, was down 2.33% to 21.00.

Crude oil for March delivery was down 0.48% or 0.36 to $75.08 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Brent oil for delivery in March fell 0.48% or 0.38 to hit $78.62 a barrel, while the February Gold Futures contract fell 0.30% or 8.41 to trade at $2,762.49 a troy ounce.

USD/JPY was up 0.06% to 156.59, while EUR/JPY rose 0.01% to 162.93.

The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.16% at 108.14.