Global Markets Overview

U.S. Markets

U.S. stocks bounced between small gains and losses a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its biggest advance in two months. The Dow shed 16 points, or 0.1%, to 11417, in Tuesday afternoon trading, following a 330-point surge Monday. Stocks had opened in negative territory as investors awaited a bailout vote in Slovakia, the 17th and final country to act on an expansion of the euro zone's rescue fund. The country's parliament was expected to reject the plan, though legislative proceedings dragged late into Tuesday. The Slovakian finance minister said he expects it to pass some time this week. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained a point, or 0.1%, to 1196, while the Nasdaq Composite added 15 points, or 0.6%, to 2581. Tuesday's relatively muted trading action put the Dow on track to snap a 55-day streak during which the measure's intraday trading range was at least 100 points every session, a reflection of the market volatility seen since August. Tuesday's range was roughly 82 points. Technology stocks led the gainers in the S&P 500, while utilities, viewed as a defensive sector, were the measure's worst performers. Bank of America, one of the financial stocks that suffers when euro-zone debt worries strike the market, was the blue-chip Dow's top performer, gaining 1.9%. Alcoa, which unofficially kicks off the third-quarter earnings season after the closing bell, gained 1.7%.

European stock markets closed mostly lower Tuesday, as investors awaited the outcome of a crucial parliamentary vote in Slovakia on plans to expand the euro-zone rescue fund. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.3% to end at 235.28. Greek banks were among the biggest decliners in the Stoxx 600 index, with Piraeus Bank down nearly 20% and Alpha Bank down 19.4%. National Bank of Greece fell nearly 16%. The troika of international lenders said Tuesday that Greec

e is likely to receive its next tranche of aid in early November, but it also noted that additional measures are likely to be needed to meet fiscal targets in 2013 and 2014. Investors were also watching closely developments in Slovakia, which is the last member of the euro zone to vote on changes to the European Financial Stability Facility. The country's governing coalition has reportedly failed to reach a deal to vote in favor of the expansion, and Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has upped the stakes by saying the vote would also be a vote of confidence in the government. However, a second vote could still be held if the first one fails, and the main opposition party could then back the plan, having forced the government to dissolve. Shares of French lender Societe Generale SA rose 5.3% and Italy's UniCredit SpA gained 6.7%, adding to large advances Monday following a promise by the leaders of France and Germany to present a comprehensive plan to deal with the debt crisis. Broker downgrades weighed on several stocks. Shares of Spain's Iberdrola SA dropped 1.4% after Goldman Sachs cut the electric utility to sell from neutral. Spain's IBEX 35 index shed 0.5% to 8,845.50. The French CAC 40 index dropped 0.3% to 3,153.52, as Essilor International SA fell 3.8% after Morgan Stanley cut the stock to underweight from equal-weight. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to 5,395.70, with hedge-fund manager Man Group PLC down 2.8%. The German DAX 30 index bucked the negative trend to end up 0.3% at 5,865.01. Drug maker Bayer AG rose 3.4%.

Hong Kong stocks led gains for Asian markets Tuesday, with financial shares surging after a state-backed investment fund boosted its holdings in some of China's biggest banks. The Hang Seng Index rose 2.4% to 18141.59, South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.6% to 1795.02 and Japan's Nikkei Stock Average gained 2% to 8773.68 as investors returned from a three-day weekend. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% 2348.52. Banking shares soared in Hong Kong after China's state-run Central Huijin Investment bought shares in the country's big four banks in what analysts believe could be an effort to stabilize the Chinese financial system. Agricultural Bank of China soared 12.8%, Bank of China gained 7.7%, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China added 6.7% and China Construction put on 5.8%. Resource firms were also well supported in Hong Kong, with shares in China Coal Energy up 6.9% and Jiangxi Copper rising 3.1%. Exporters posted solid gains in Japan. Ricoh added 6%, and Toshiba rose 3.4%. Other notable gainers included Sony, up 5.7%, and Sharp, up 4.5%. In the auto sector, Honda Motor added 5.5%, while Hyundai Motor gained 3.8% in the Korean session. Tokyo-listed shares in Toyota Motor added 1.6% after it reported a rise in Chinese sales in September.

Base metals closed lower on the London Metal Exchange Tuesday as investors cautiously awaited the outcome of a key vote in Slovakia on the European rescue fund. LME three-month copper ended the afternoon open outcry session at $7,290 a metric ton, down 2.7% on Monday's close. Oil futures settled slightly higher Tuesday for the fifth day in a row, in a mild trading day free of the extreme volatility that has characterized the market in recent days. Prices were slightly down at the opening of the New York market, but turned positive at midday and held their gains through the afternoon. Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled up 40 cents, or 0.5%, at $85.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE Futures Europe exchange was up $1.78, or 1.6%, at $110.73 a barrel. Gold futures ended a touch lower amid low volume trade as Slovakia made slow progress on voting on the expansion of the European rescue fund. The most actively traded contract, for December delivery, fell $9.80, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,661.00 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Thinly traded October-delivery gold settled $9.90, or 0.6%, lower at $1,659.70 a troy ounce.

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