japanese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, driven by gains in the shipbuilding, finance, and banking sectors. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.96%, or 373.71 points, to close at 39,277.39.

In economic news, Japan's consumer confidence index slipped in October, with the seasonally adjusted figure dropping to 36.2, a decrease of 0.7 points from the previous month, according to data released by the Cabinet Office Wednesday.

Overall livelihood sentiment dipped by 0.2 points this month to 34.2 from 34.4 last month, while income growth expectations worsened, dropping 0.7 points to 39.4.

Employment confidence was down 0.6 points to 41.6, and willingness to purchase durable goods saw a decrease of 1.3 hitting 29.7.

In corporate news, CTI Engineering (TYO:9621) will acquire 8,400 shares with 100% voting rights of Hiroken Consultants from Kazuhiro Motohiro.

The company plans to improve its domestic presence and expand its business via the acquisition. The share transfer is scheduled to take place on Nov. 12.

Hiroken Consultants is primarily engaged in the engineering consultation business.

Shares of CTI Engineering rose nearly 1% at market close on Wednesday.