European stocks finished with losses Tuesday, as investors took a cautious approach ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress. After the latest Fed minutes out last week, investors are still expecting the U.S. central bank to hike rates at least one more time this year, but they are waiting on clues as to the timing of the next tightening move.

The U.S. stock market remained resilient Tuesday with the Nasdaq extending its winning streak to a third session as a pair of political developments dominated the news cycle. The market had initially turned south after Donald Trump Jr. released a chain of emails regarding a meeting in June 2016 to discuss allegedly incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as part of the Russian government's support of his father's presidential candidacy.

Equity markets in Asia largely paused Wednesday after a strong start to the week, with stocks in Japan and Australia underperforming as their countries' currencies made gains. In a development in claims that Russia might have meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, Donald Trump's eldest son released correspondence on Tuesday that showed communication with a Russian government attorney.