TOKYO: Japan shares closed firmer on Wednesday, taking positive cues from Wall Street as the Dow Jones benchmark scaled a record high overnight, with investor sentiment lifted by vaccine optimism and fading US election uncertainty.

The Nikkei share average climbed 0.5% to close at 26,296.86. The index ended at a 29-1/2-year high on Tuesday.

The broader Topix added 0.3% to 1,767.67, extending slight gains from a more than two-year high marked in the previous session.

Shares of restaurants and bars fell, with Watami and Royal Holdings dropping 3.59% and 2.68%, respectively.

Land transport sector also inched down 0.77%.

Shares of semiconductor-related companies benefited from a strong performance in their US peers, with Shin-Etsu Chemical climbing 3.39%, while Advantest and Tokyo Electron reversed course to end slightly lower.

Nissan Motor jumped nearly 7%, boosted by a combination of short-covering and hopes on shift to electric vehicles after the company said its redesigned compact car would feature hybrid technology system. The Mothers Index of start-up firm shares bucked the overall firmness and lost 2.1%.