US chain stores sales rose by 2.5pct in the latest week compared with a year ago according to Redbook Research. And in Germany industrial production dropped by 2.9pct in December, taking annual growth down to just 0.9pct, the lowest since late 2009.

A meeting of Greek political leaders to discuss a 130-billion-euro bailout has been postponed to Wednesday.

In testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has pledged to the support the US economy from problems in Europe: ´´we will continue to monitor the situation closely and take every available step to protect the U.S. financial system and the economy.´´

European shares again eased slightly on Tuesday as investors continued to focus on the political negotiations in Greece over a new financing deal. Shares in Glencore fell 3.8pct while Xstrata lost 4.9pct after agreeing on a merger valuing the combined group at $90 billion. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.3pct, with the UK FTSE down 2 pts or less than 0.1pct while the German Dax fell by 0.2pct.

US sharemarkets rose modestly on Tuesday. Shares in Coca Cola rose 1pct in response to better-than-expected earnings. At the close of trade, the Dow Jones was up by 33 points or 0.3pct with the S&P 500 up 0.2pct and the Nasdaq lifted 2pts or 0.1pct.

US treasuries fell on Tuesday (yields higher) in response to a weak auction of $32 billion of three-year Treasury notes. Later in the week there will be a $24 billion sale of 10-year debt on Wednesday and a $16 billion offering of 30-year bond on Thursday. US 2yr yields rose 1pt to 0.25pct and US 10yr yields rose by 5pts to 1.977pct.

Major currencies were mixed against the US dollar over the European and US session. The Euro rose from lows near US$1.3095 to US$1.3270, but eased to US$1.3255 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar held between US107.60c and US108.20c, and was near US108.00c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen eased from 76.61 yen per US dollar to JPY76.94 and was near JPY76.79 in late US trade.

World crude oil prices rose on Tuesday after the US Energy Information Administration raised its 2012 world oil demand forecast. The US Nymex oil price lifted by US$1.50 or 1.5pct to US$98.41 a barrel and London Brent crude rose by US30c to US$116.23 a barrel.

Base metal prices were mixed on Tuesday as a weaker US dollar offset uncertainty on the Greek debt situation. Copper fell 0.2pct and zinc lost 0.4pct but other metals rose with tin up 4.1pct. And the gold price rebounded from two days of losses with the Comex April gold price higher by US$23.50 or 1.4pct to US$1,748.40 an ounce.

Ahead: In Australia, consumer sentiment figures for February are released. Earnings are expected from BHP Billiton, Boral and Ansell. In the US, the weekly mortgage market index is released.