Fresh record for the Dow

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished at a record for the 15th time this year on Wednesday as investors were driven by healthy economic data. US markets however pared their earlier gains, with major indexes closing off intraday highs as bond yields jumped, which could dampen appetite for stocks. The Dow closed 26,828.39, rising 54.45 points after hitting an all-time high of 26,951.81. The S&P 500 climbed 2.08 points to 2,925.51 and the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 25.54 points, or 0.3%, to 8,025.09.

European markets climbed on Wednesday, driven by gains in Italy’s FTSE MIB index after hopes that the nation’s budget deficit could be lowered, though concerns about the country’s debt and budget plan lingered. The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% to 384.40 while the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 7,515.85. Meanwhile, German markets were closed as the country celebrated its Unity Day.

Aston Martin stalls off the line

Shares in Aston Martin fell on their debut trading day in London as the luxury carmaker’s IPO floundered after investors compared its valuation with larger and more profitable Italian competitor, Ferrari NV. The stock lost as much as 7.5% on Wednesday from its initial public offering price of £19, a figure that gave the Gaydon, England-based company a market capitalisation of 4.3 billion pounds.

Chief Executive Officer Andy Palmer said he was “delighted” with the response to the IPO, describing it as a milestone for the company and pledging to deliver on growth plans. The CEO said Aston wanted "investors looking for the long term and in choosing the price we have been able to select a very awesome book" of them. The British manufacturer, now known as Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings Plc, is planning to expand its presence in the sports-car world with the Vanquish, Vantage and DB models.

Toyota and SoftBank’s push for self-driving cars

Toyota Motor Corp and SoftBank Group Corp are teaming up to develop self-driving car services, signaling deepening alliances between top automaker and tech firms as the global race to develop autonomous cars intensifies. The tie-up shows that even big, well-funded firms want to share costs and expertise in pursuing promising but risky automotive technologies that have yet to gain widespread consumer acceptance.

Japan’s biggest automaker and its most influential tech firm will jointly develop a platform to operate self-driving vehicles which can be used as mobile shops, hospitals and other services as they envision a future in which fewer people drive their own vehicles. The joint company will be called MONET, short for mobility network, and will roll out an autonomous driving service using e-Palette by the second half of the 2020s, the companies said.