U.S. STOCK MARKETS

Consumer stocks lifted the Dow industrials after Home Depot and a handful of high-end retailers posted upbeat quarterly earnings and July's retail-sales report topped estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.71 points, or less than 0.1%, to 13172.14.

Home Depot led the advance by blue chips, climbing 3.6% after the home-improvement retailer's quarterly profit rose and the company raised its full-year outlook.

Stocks pared gains late in Tuesday's session, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index declined 0.18 point, or less than 0.1%, to 1403.93.

The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 5.54 points, or 0.2%, to 3016.98. Estee Lauder jumped 9.3% after the beauty-products company saw its quarterly earnings rise 25%, as sales rose across all regions.

Michael Kors leapt 16% after the luxury-accessories maker reported first-quarter profit nearly tripled from a year earlier, and offered earnings views that topped projections. Saks climbed 6.2% after the upscale department-store chain affirmed its earnings outlook and posted results that slightly beat expectations, even though it booked a quarterly loss.

Groupon tumbled 27%, closing at an all-time low, after the online coupon company reported its first-ever quarterly profit. But gains in the second quarter were driven by its lower-margin Groupon Goods business of selling merchandise, rather than its primary daily-deals business.

A report from the Commerce Department set an upbeat tone in the market before the opening bell. It showed retail sales rose 0.8% in July, handily outpacing expectations.

It was the biggest jump since February. Separately, the producer-price index, a measure of how much wholesalers and manufacturers pay for finished goods, rose for the second month in a row, although the modest gain reflects that inflation is likely under control.

Business inventories rose slightly in June, matching expectations, a signal that companies aren't yet willing to store extra goods. And the National Federation of Independent Business's small-business optimism index slipped in July from June.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

European stocks closed at a level not seen in almost five months Tuesday, as most bourses rose after better-than-expected data on German growth and U.S. retail sales. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.7% to 270.54, its highest close since March 19.

Heavyweight pharmaceutical firms buoyed the index, with Novartis AG up 1.1%, Sanofi AG 0.9% higher and Novo Nordisk AS up 2.9%. Germany's Merck KGaA added 4.2% after it raised its outlook for full-year earnings, as revenue in the second quarter rose 12%.

Bucking the positive trend, Nokia Corp. tumbled 7.9% as research from Gartner showed the telecom equipment maker's share of the total mobile device market fell to 19.9% in the second quarter from 22.8% in the year-earlier period.

On the data front, gross domestic product figures from major euro-zone economies beat analyst expectations and inspired investors to buy into the region's equity markets.

In France, GDP data showed that the economy stagnated in the second quarter, but still exceeded expectations of a 0.1% contraction.

Meanwhile, the German economy grew 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the second quarter, beating forecasts of a 0.2% rise.

Euro-zone GDP contracted 0.2% in the second quarter, dragged down by a 1.2% decline in Portugal and a 0.4% fall in Spain. Germany's ZEW economic sentiment indicator dropped to its lowest reading since December.

Among other notable gainers in European stock markets, oil refiner Galp Energia SGPS SA added 1.3% after peer Petroleo Brasileiro SA said it continues to find oil in the Carcara well, in the same block where Galp Energia holds 14% of the stake.

Other oil firms were also on the rise, tracking oil prices higher. French oil major Total SA gained 0.6%, helping send the CAC 40 index 0.7% higher to 3,450.27. In the U.K., oil group BP PLC rose 0.9% and BG Group PLC added 0.6%.

The FTSE 100 index advanced 0.6% to 5,864.78, further supported by a 0.6% gain for HSBC Holdings PLC. Standard Life PLC surged 8.1% after reporting a 15% rise in operating profit for first half of 2012. Merck's gains helped lift the DAX 30 index 0.9% to 6,974.39. Rival Bayer AG tracked Merck higher, adding 2.1%.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian markets were higher Tuesday, as investors positioned themselves ahead of a raft of economic data later in the day from Europe and the U.S.

Japan's Nikkei gained 0.5% to 8929.88, on low volumes due to the holiday season, with utilities and commercial services performing well.

South Korea's Kospi was up 1.3% at 1956.96 as foreign investors continued to show interest in local shares, extending their net buying run for a seventh day buying into technology and auto stocks. Hyundai Motors gained 1.6% and Samsung Electronics was 1.5% higher.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.1% to 20291.68, pulled higher by utilities, telecoms and Aluminum Corp. of China, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.3% higher at 2142.52.

Chalco rose 3.0%, getting a fillip from news it will buy 35.3% of Ningxia Electric Power, a wind-farm developer with coal assets. In deal news, Toshiba dropped 3.7% in Tokyo, following a Yomiuri Shinbun report that the company will sell a 16% stake in U.S. nuclear power-plant company Westinghouse Electric as it seeks to focus its nuclear power business in emerging markets.

Also in Japan, Seven & I Holdings lost 0.9% after investors were left uninspired by a Nikkei report that said the company plans to increase operating profit guidance for its convenience store business by around 10%. In Hong Kong, Swire Properties lost 4.2% as shareholder John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd. raised $650 million via a placement selling shares at a 9.7% discount to the closing price on Monday.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange Tuesday, struggling for direction as investors weighed encouraging economic data against reduced expectations for further central bank stimulus.

At the close, LME three-month copper was up 0.3% at $7,415 a metric ton, off the session's high of $7,465/ton. Base metals initially gained after French and German gross domestic product figures weren't as bad as feared, propping up risk sentiment.

Gains were later pared, however, after stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data dented hopes for further economic stimulus by the Federal Reserve.

Tin outperformed the base-metal complex Tuesday, up 3.2% at $18,275/ton at the close, as investors reacted to the metal's tightening supply picture. Oil prices rallied Tuesday following strong U.S. retail sales figures and respectable economic figures out of major European economies, news that reignited bullish sentiment among some market participants.

Nymex front-month oil futures settled up 70 cents, or 0.8%, at $93.43 a barrel. Brent futures settled at $114.03 a barrel, up 43 cents.

Platinum prices edged higher on stronger European growth data, while gold slipped on worries that the Federal Reserve may delay new easy money measures, helping to narrow the record-wide gap between the two metals.

The most actively traded platinum contract, for October delivery, settled up $6.30, or 0.5%, at $1,399.10 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for December delivery settled down $10.20, or 0.6%, at $1,602.40 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the Nymex. Compiled from MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD