European stocks finished modestly higher Tuesday after Britain's top court ruled the U.K. government must consult lawmakers before starting the Brexit process. The pan-European benchmark remained largely steady after the U.K. Supreme Court in an 8-3 decision upheld a High Court ruling from November. That ruling said an Act of Parliament is needed before the British government can invoke Article 50, the beginning of the process for Britain to exit the European Union.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed at new records on Tuesday while the Dow Jones Industrial Average resumed its march toward the psychologically-important 20,000, finishing less than 90 points away from the elusive milestone. Gains for stocks came after a solid round of corporate earnings boosted investor sentiment, providing a catalsyt after mostly lackluster trading following President Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday.

Asian shares climbed on improved risk sentiment from both regional economic data and overnight gains in the U.S. for both stocks and the dollar. The greenback, though, has reversed some of that advance versus the yen, trading around ¥113.45 after nearly reaching ¥114 in early Asian trading.