US chain store sales rose by 3.2pct in the latest week compared with a year ago according to the Johnson Redbook Retail Sales index.

German industrial orders rose by 5.2pct in real terms in October - the biggest increase since March 2010 and well above forecasts centred on a 0.8pct rise.

The Bank of Canada kept official rates at 1.00pct as expected.

Reuters reports: ´´Tighter oversight of euro zone fiscal policy can be achieved through minor, rapid adjustments to the EU treaty, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy told EU leaders in an interim report to be discussed at a summit on December. 8-9.´´

European shares were mixed in thin trade. The FTSEurofirst index fell by 0.4pct while the UK FTSE was up by less than 0.1pct and the German Dax lost 1.3pct. A 13.9pct fall in the share price of German retailer Metro weighed on the Dax.

US blue-chip shares posted modest gains in thin trade but finished off session highs. There was little corporate or economic news to respond to and investors awaited the euro summit later in the week. At the close, the Dow Jones was higher by 52 points or 0.4pct after being up 118 points at one stage. The S&P 500 rose by 0.1pct, but the Nasdaq was down 6pts or 0.2pct.

US treasuries were again little changed on Tuesday as investors waited for the euro summit. Optimism about a debt agreement was balanced against the decision by Standard and Poor´s to downgrade euro nations debt ratings. US 2yr yields fell 1pt to 0.258pct and US 10yr yields rose 2pts to 2.079pct.

The Euro and commodity currencies trended higher against the greenback over the European and US sessions. The Euro lifted from lows near US$1.3335 to around US$1.3425 and was near US$1.3400 in late US trade. The Aussie dollar rose from lows around US101.55c to US102.65c, and was near US102.40c in late US trade. And the Japanese yen held between 77.60 yen per US dollar and JPY77.85, and was near JPY77.70 in late US trade.

World crude oil prices rose on Tuesday. While there fewer concerns about supply disruptions in Iraq, supporting prices was optmism that nations will hammer out a debt deal at the summit beginning on Thursday. Nymex crude oil rose by US29c to US$101.28 a barrel and London Brent crude rose by US$1.00 to US$110.81 a barrel.

Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday. Aluminium, copper and nickel fell between 0.4-1.3pct but other metals rose up to 1.6pct. And the gold price fell with the Comex February gold price down by US$2.70 an ounce or 0.2pct to US$1,731.80.

Ahead: In Australia, economic growth data (the national accounts) is released. In the US, no major economic data is released.