Sawt Falasteen - US stocks surge to records, shrugging off upheaval in South Korea, 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.

Late Wednesday in Paris, French lawmakers voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, pushing the country further into political uncertainty.

For the first time in over sixty years, the National Assembly lower house toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen.

"Political turmoil in both France and South Korea provide a uncertain backdrop for global markets, with the likely removal of both Barnier and Yoon bringing the potential for both countries to find a fresh direction," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

Thomas Mathews, head of Asia-Pacific markets at Capital Economics, said the losses in Seoul could have been "much worse" had the president not aborted his plan.

"Rarely does a combined sell-off in a country's stocks, bonds and currency feel like a relief rally," he said.

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 lackluster data boosts expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this month.

At a New York conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained from tipping his hand, but he "didn't say anything that would scare the market," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

O'Hare noted that Wednesday's gains were led by large tech names such as Nvidia and Microsoft, which are major AI players.

The boost followed strong results from Salesforce, which was the biggest gainer in the Dow with an 11 percent jump.

- Key figures around 2150 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 45,014.04 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 6,086.49 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 19,735.12 (close)

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,335.81 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,303.28 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.1 percent at 20,232.14 (close)

Seoul - Kospi Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 2,464.00 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 39,276.39 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 19,742.46 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,364.65 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0510 from $1.0509 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2702 from $1.2673

Dollar/yen: UP at 150.56 yen from 149.60 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.71 from 82.92 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $72.31 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $68.54 per barrel

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