Stocks in Asia were largely higher late Wednesday as the International Monetary Fund announced the global economy is poised to witness a larger contraction than it had initially anticipated.

Chinese mainland stocks inched higher on the day, with the Shanghai composite rising 0.14 percent to about 2.935.87, while the Shenzhen component climbed 0.192 percent to about 11.420.84. As of its final trading hour, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 0.25 percent.

The Kospi rose 0.14 percent over in South Korea to settle at 2,141.05. In afternoon trade, India's Nifty 50 was 0.24 percent higher as well.

Shares in Japan were lagging, as the Nikkei 225 lost 0.56 percent to end at 22.455.76, while the Topix index dropped 0.4 percent to end its trading day at 1.587.09.

European stocks surged as markets opened Wednesday, as a "breakthrough" coronavirus vaccine outweighed a second wave of new concerns.

The World Health Organization called a clinical test spearheaded by the Oxford University as "great news." WHO stated the study was the first treatment shown to cut the number of fatalities among seriously sick patients reliant on oxygen.

WHO Director-General Adhanom Ghebreyesus disclosed the trial marked a "lifesaving medical advance," using the inexpensive, commonly used steroid dexamethasone.

In Germany, the DAX, French CAC and UK FTSE bounced back. Travel stocks, including cruise ship company Carnival and International Consolidated Airlines Group advanced.

London-listed German tour operator TUI stated it was partially restarting operations next month, as cinema chain Cineworld disclosed it would reopen its US and UK movie houses on July 10.

Meanwhile, investors were focused on Tuesday on the Federal Reserve's announcements, particularly after the central bank announced more measures to lift the market.

The central bank noted it would acquire individual corporate equities, marking a wider approach to bond purchasing. Previously suggesting it would later acquire bonds on the main market, Monday's disclosure by the Fed signaled an expansion of its move into the secondary market.

Wall Street, on the other hand, will be further lifted Tuesday after Bloomberg said that US President Donald Trump's administration is allocating $1 trillion in a new infrastructure program.

US stock futures also saw a decent open. S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq futures all climbed 0.6 percent at around 4 a.m. Eastern Time.

The US stocks continued their global market advance late Tuesday after US retail sales soared by a record 17 percent in May, making up more than 50 percent of losses in the last eight weeks. The central bank's announcement of new plans to backstop US corporate debt had also buoyed stocks.