Stocks listed in Spain dropped Monday, weighing on the pan-European benchmark, after the central government in Madrid gave Catalonia's separatist leaders until Thursday to drop their push for independence. In Madrid, the IBEX 35 IBEX, -0.75% fell 0.8% to close at 10,181.40, falling for a third straight session. As the index extended its loss from the open, the broader Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.00% erased its gain to end flat at 391.41.

The global stock rally showed signs of slowing Tuesday, with many Asia-Pacific indexes little changed ahead of the start of the Chinese Communist Party's congress. One exception was Australia, where stocks rebounded thanks to stronger commodity prices. The S&P/ASX 200 XJO, +0.80% was recently up 0.7% as it got a lift from Rio Tinto RIO, +1.84% and BHP Billiton BHP, +1.45% . Their shares rose more than 1%, with Rio hitting another 3½-year high.

U.S. stocks closed higher Monday, with all three major indexes logging another round of records, as investors looked ahead to key corporate earnings reports that could set the tone for trading and determine whether the lofty levels of the equity market are justified.