European stocks closed higher Tuesday, with bank stocks gaining ground as investors assessed upbeat developments from Germany and Greece. The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.41% tacked on 0.4% to finish at 380.77, rebounding after the benchmark on Monday closed lower by 0.2%. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 DAX, +0.45% was higher by 0.5% at 12,264.31, holding to gains after the closely watched Ifo Institute described German companies as "euphoric". The widely watched Ifo index of business sentiment in Europe's largest economy surged to a record high of 116.0 in July.

Asian shares gave up earlier gains Wednesday, though Japanese and Australian stocks outperformed, helped by an improvement in appetite for risk, which pushed the U.S. dollar and commodity prices higher overnight. Commodities led the charge in European and U.S. trading on Tuesday, with copper prices jumping 4% and oil rising more than 3%. That's particularly good for Australian stocks, where a big market segment is mining and energy companies.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Tuesday notched fresh all-time highs as Wall digested an array of better-than-expected corporate-results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.47% closed up 100 points, or 0.5%, but the blue-chip average's advance was limited by a plunge in shares of component 3M Co. MMM, -5.05% which marked its sharpest-ever net drop on a dollar-basis on record, off $10.61, or down 5.1%, according to WSJ Market Data Group, tracking data going back to 1972.