Australian shares continued to push to new highs, driven by a third straight day of broad gains outside the mining sector.
The broad All Ordinaries index hit a fresh all-time high, rising 0.6% to 6901.9. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200, too, is nearing a record. It settled 0.6% higher at a fresh more-than-11-year high of 6818 that puts it roughly 10 points away from the peak set in November 2007.
The heavily weighted Big Four banks were up by 0.8-1.7%, but it was the subindexes for industrials, information technology and health care companies that led with gains of 1.6-1.7%.
Mining stocks were the big losers for a second session, with weakness in iron ore prices. Fortescue lost 5.5% and Rio Tinto dropped 4.2%. 

U.S. stocks fell intraday after the European Central Bank hinted it is preparing to cut key interest rates for the first time since early 2016, a sign that the global-easing cycle is gaining momentum.
The Dow industrials slid 135 points, or 0.5%, to 27137. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7%, with both indexes easing from records hit a day earlier.

Gold futures settled sharply lower, reversing a morning climb, after the European Central Bank’s decision to signal its plan to ease monetary policy disappointed investors by not including immediate action or details of its likely efforts.
The ECB said it stood ready to cut interest rates and deliver “highly accommodative” monetary policy, including additional asset purchases, in its effort to push stubbornly low inflation back toward its target amid signs of deteriorating economic conditions in the eurozone.
August gold on Comex lost $8.90, or 0.6%, to finish at $1,414.70 an ounce, on marking its sharpest slide since July 5 when the most-active contract fell $20.80, or 1.5%, according to FactSet data.
In other commodity markets, September wheat prices were up 1 3/4 cents at $4.99 1/2 cents.

Oil futures ended with a modest gain.
West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 14 cents, or 0.3%, to finish at $56.02 a barrel. The U.S. benchmark is on track for a 0.6% weekly rise.

It’s been a volatile session for the euro.
The currency rose briefly on relief that the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged, then fell to a two-year low against the dollar on the prospect of future rate cuts and more bond-buying, before turning higher again after ECB President Mario Draghi said the risk of recession was low.
That left EUR/USD last up 0.3% at 1.1179, having earlier dropped as low as 1.1101, according to FactSet.

The STOXX Europe 600 Index was down 2.21 points, or 0.56%, to 389.52 — the largest one-day point and percentage decline since July 5.
The FTSE 100 Index was down 12.41 points, or 0.17%, to 7489.05.
The French CAC-40 Index, meanwhile, was down 27.82 points, or 0.50%, to 5578.05, while the German DAX was down 160.79 points, or 1.28%, to 12362.10.

Asian stocks were broadly up, with South Korea’s Kospi the exception with a drop of 0.4%.
Japanese shares closed higher, led by utility stocks, as investors remained hopeful of central bank stimulus and quicker global growth. The Nikkei closed up 0.2% at 21756.55.

Korean stocks, meanwhile, finished lower for a second day as the benchmark Kospi fell 0.4% to close at 2074.48. Somewhat weak corporate earnings results dampened investor sentiment, as did concerns about brewing Korea-Japan trade tensions and North Korea’s resumption of short-range missile tests, said a Seoul-based Daishin Securities analyst.

Malaysian stocks ended higher, thanks to a late-session push by selected blue chips.
However, market breadth was negative, with losers beating gainers 500 to 301. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed 0.25% higher at 1656.58. Among the top index, gainers are aluminum smelter Press Metal and chemical processing firm Petronas Chemicals. Investors will be on the lookout for the corporate earnings season, due to start next week in Malaysia.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.3% to close at 28594.30, amid broad gains across Asian markets. Indian shares closed marginally down, falling for the sixth consecutive session, as investors continue to sell local equities that hit a record high earlier this year. The BSE Sensex shed 16.67 points, or less than 0.1%, to close at 37830.98. It was among the rare Asian benchmarks that declined.