In the US, consumer confidence dipped slightly to 70.2 in March from 71.6 in February. The Richmond Fed index fell 13 points to +7 in March, a 3-month low. And the S&P/Case Shiller composite index of house prices in 20 metropolitan areas was flat in January on a seasonally adjusted basis. Economists had tipped a decline of 0.2pct.

French consumer confidence rebounded to an 8-month high of 87 in March, jumping from 82 in February. In Germany, the GFK consumer confidence reading for April eased from 6.0 to 5.9.

European shares fell on Tuesday, dragged down by shares in French oil giant Total. Shares in Total fell by 6pct after it warned a massive gas leak at the firm’s Elgin platform in the North Sea may take six months to stop. The benchmark FTSEurofirst 300 index fell by 0.5pct with the German Dax flat and the UK FTSE down by 0.6pct. Miners were mixed with Rio Tinto up 0.7pct in London trade while BHP Billiton lost 0.1pct.

US sharemarkets fell in late trade on Tuesday as investors started to square positions ahead of the end of the month and the quarter. Shares in Apple rose another 1.2pct to another record high above US$615 a share. Shares in homebuilder Lennar rose almost 5pct after reporting a sharp lift in orders for the quarter. The Dow Jones index fell by 40pts in the last 50 minutes of trade, and at the close the Dow was down by almost 44pts or 0.3pct. The S&P 500 fell by 0.3pct and the Nasdaq eased 2.2pts or 0.1pct.

US treasuries rose on Tuesday (yields lower) after a $35 billion auction of two-year notes was well received by investors. Direct bidders took 21.4pct of the issue, the best result since October 2009. US 2yr yields fell by 3pts to 0.32pct and US 10yr yields fell by 7pts to 2.18pct.

The US dollar clawed back some losses against major currencies in European and US trade on Tuesday. The Euro eased from highs around US$1.3380 to US$1.3320, and was near lows in late US trade. The Aussie dollar eased from highs around US105.55c to US104.60c and was near lows in late US trade. And the Japanese yen eased from 82.64 yen per US dollar to JPY83.36 and was near JPY83.13 in late US trade.

Benchmark crude oil prices were mixed on Tuesday. Economic data was uneventful and traders weighed supply concerns with the potential for the US to release oil from strategic reserves to restrain energy prices. The US Nymex rose by US30c or 0.3pct to US$107.03 a barrel while London Brent crude fell by US11c to US$125.54 a barrel.

Base metal prices were mixed on Tuesday. Nickel fell by 2.0pct and lead and copper eased slightly but other metals lifted around 0.5pct. Meanwhile the gold price eased from two-week highs as the greenback recovered with the April Comex gold price down by US70c to US$1,684.90 an ounce.

Ahead: In Australia, the Reserve Bank releases the Financial Stability Review. In the US, data on durable goods orders is released.