Global Stocks

A pan-European stock benchmark closed slightly higher Monday, while German's main gauge pulled back from a record, as a drop for banks and telecoms limited gains and as a political shake-up in Saudi Arabia caused some jitters. A slowdown in services activity weighed on shares in Spain, already battered by the ongoing political crisis over independence for Catalonia.

Asia-Pacific stocks posted gains Tuesday after several days of little movement globally, allowing indexes in the region to hit fresh multiyear highs. A late-morning rush of buying, which some attributed to fresh foreign inflows, helped the Nikkei top its 1996 high and reach levels last seen in early 1992. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng hit a fresh 10-year high and Australia's benchmark XJO, +1.02% exceeded its 2015 peak to hit its highest point since early 2008.

Stocks rose moderately Monday, helping the three main stock benchmarks to close at all-time highs, marking the 26th time this year simultaneous records have been set, as well as the most ever records in a year. Healthy corporate earnings and megamerger talks between chip makers Broadcom and Qualcomm kept stocks in positive territory despite unsettling developments in Saudi Arabia where more than five dozen princes, ministers and prominent businessmen were purged over the weekend.