US factory orders rose by 0.8pct in May, just short of forecasts centred on a gain of 1.0pct. Orders for durable goods rose by 2.1pct.

Moody´s Investors Service has cut Portugal´s credit rating by four levels to Ba2, two notches into ´´junk´´ territory. Moody´s assigned a negative outlook for the rating.

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European shares rose for a seventh straight day on Tuesday. Shares in Carrefour, the world´s second biggest retailer, rose by 4.5pct after listing its Dia discount chain in Spain. But banks eased with the STOXX Europe banking index down 0.8pct. The FTSEurofirst index rose by 0.1pct but while the German Dax eased 0.1pct, the UK FTSE rose by 0.1pct.

US sharemarkets ended mixed on Tuesday. While blue-chip shares eased slightly, technology shares rose. On the Nasdaq shares in Netflix rose 8.1pct after it said it was expanding its online video service in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Dow Jones fell by almost 13pts or 0.1pct with the S&P 500 also down 0.1pct but the Nasdaq rose by 9.7pts or 0.4pct.

After a five day sell-off, US treasuries were again in demand on Tuesday (prices higher, yields lower) amidst on-going jitters about European debt. Moody´s has also raised concerns about the level of China´s local government debt. US 2yr yields fell by 5pts to 0.43pct and US 10yr yields fell by 6pts to 3.127pct.

Major currencies were little-changed against the US dollar in quiet European and US trade on Tuesday. The Euro held between US$1.4400 and US$1.4500, ending US trade near US$1.4420. The Aussie dollar held generally between US106.70c and US107.10c, ending US trade near US106.85c. And the Japanese yen stuck close to 81 yen per US dollar, ending US trade around JPY81.10.

Benchmark crude oil prices posted solid gains on Tuesday, hitting two-week highs. Commodities were generally in demand with gold and base metal prices up. A rise in US factory orders and an upgrade in the oil forecast by Barclays Capital added to the positive sentiment on the oil complex. US Nymex crude oil rose by US$1.95 or 2.1pct to US$96.89 a barrel and London Brent crude rose by US$2.22 or 2.0pct to US$113.61 a barrel.

Base metal prices rose again on the London Metal Exchange on Tuesday. Tin rose 2.8pct and aluminium lifted 2.6pct with other metals up by between 0.5-0.9pct. And the gold price posted a solid gain with Comex gold up by US$30.10 an ounce or 2.0pct to US$1,512.70. Some attribute the lift in the gold price to bargain hunting by Asian investors, others to safe-haven buying on speculation about a possible rate hike in China.

Ahead: In Australia, data on engineering construction is released. In the US, the Challenger job layoff series and ISM services index are scheduled for release.

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