NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks surged to fresh records on hopes about easing US monetary policy, shrugging off political upheaval in South Korea and France.
All three major US indices scored records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing above 45,000 for the first time.
"The market at this point is looking for excuses to go up, and there's not really anything that might work against that narrative," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.
"Over the last couple of days, it's managed to ignore all sorts of inconvenient things and decided that the situation in France doesn't matter for them," Sosnick said of the stock market. "The situation in Korea doesn't matter."
South Korea's stock market fell less than feared and the won rebounded from earlier losses after President Yoon Suk Yeol swiftly reversed a decision to impose martial law.
In Europe, Paris stocks managed to advance as France's government faced looming no-confidence votes.
Oil prices turned lower after surging around 2.5 percent Tuesday, mainly after the United States sanctioned 35 companies and ships it accused of involvement with Iran's "shadow fleet" illicitly selling Iranian oil to foreign markets.
Major producers at the OPEC+ grouping led by Saudi Arabia and Russia were set to meet Thursday to discuss extending output limits.
Back in New York, major indices were led by the Nasdaq, which piled on 1.3 percent to finish at a third straight record.
Wednesday's gains came after payroll firm ADP said US private-sector hiring in November came in at a lower-than-expected 146,000 jobs, while a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed weaker sentiment than expected in the services sector.
But the lacklustre data boosts expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this month.