Europeans stocks pushed higher Monday, with Spanish and Greek shares gaining in the wake of sovereign ratings upgrades and closing at a 5-month and almost three-year highs, respectively. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.17% ended up 0.3% at 402.11, closing at its highest since August 2015. Last week, the pan-European gauge rose for a third consecutive week.

U.S. stocks mostly rose on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq ending at an all-time highs, a day after a partial shutdown of the government came to an end. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.22% closed up 0.2% at 2,839, the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.71% closed up 0.7% at 7,460.

Asia's blazing stock rally took a pause on Wednesday as investors took stock of the best start to a year for the region since 2006. A strengthening yen hit Japanese shares, and a record winning streak for Chinese stocks in Hong Kong was at risk of finally ending.