Asian equities were broadly higher Wednesday, with Australian stocks leading the way on strong gains among the country’s biggest banks. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was recently up 0.7%, as shares of the country’s “big four” banks rose more than 3%. Trading elsewhere in the region got off to a slow start as investors were cautious ahead of policy statements from the European and Japanese central banks. Asian tech stocks continued to move higher Wednesday, supported by the Nasdaq Composite’s first record closing high in six weeks overnight. Here, the European Central Bank in Frankfurt.

Source: Wall Street Journal July 19, 2017 02:00 UTC