Overnight

This chart from WSJ tells the story as the  DJIA pushed to a record Tuesday, surpassing their May 2015 milestone and ending the longest stretch without a record since the period from October 2007 to March 2013. The Dow was up 120.74 points, or 0.7%, to 18347.67 to climb past its previous closing record of 18312.39 set May 19, 2015.

Overseas, the Nikkei hit a one month high Wednesday as investors continue to look for more monetary stimulus from the BoJ. The Nikkei edged 1.0% higher to 16,444.25, highlighting its gain since the election Sunday to 7.5%, with today's rally to a one month high. Tuesday Prime Minister Abe met with form Federal Reserve Chairman Ben "Helicopter" Bernanke amid speculation that they would discuss that topic in an attempt to put an end to the deflation that's been troubling the Japanese economy for longer than most can recall.Further easing would increase liquidity that would be expected to find its way into the equity markets.

Elsewhere, the WSJ reported: Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3%, Korea’s Kospi gained 0.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.4%. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4%. The gains follow strong performance on Wall Street overnight, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing 0.7% higher to a fresh record high. 

Chinese shares were also up, despite a ruling from an international court against the country’s claims over the South China Sea. Though China rejected the ruling, it struck a conciliatory tone to say that it was open to talks with its neighbors. That, along with investors exiting positions, led to declines in defense-related stocks on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, China’s yuan was trading slightly weaker against the U.S. dollar ahead of data this week, ranging from second-quarter economic and credit growth figures, to June property and industrial-production numbers.