U.S. Stocks

U.S. stocks hit fresh session highs after a report circulated that France and Germany had agreed on a EUR2 trillion plan to combat Europe's sovereign debt crisis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 250 points, or 2.2%, to 11651, after earlier falling as much as 101 points. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 32 points, or 2.7%, to 1233, led higher by financial and industrial stocks. Each of the index's 10 sectors traded in positive territory.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 52 points, or 2%, to 2666. The gains came after earnings reports from several blue-chip companies presented a mixed picture. International Business Machines fell 4.4% after the technology services and hardware company's third-quarter revenue fell short of expectations.

The total for service contracts signed by customers appeared to disappoint investors. Bank of America was the biggest gainer among the blue chips, rising 10% after the banking giant reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded expectations. Also, Goldman Sachs Group gained 5.6% even after the investment bank registered just its second quarterly loss since becoming a public company in 1999. Revenue fell 60% from year earlier levels. Home builder stocks got a boost after a report showed home builders' sentiment rose to the highest level in 17 months. Beazer Homes jumped 11%, while Toll Brothers gained 13%, KB Home rose 9.7% and Standard Pacific advanced 8.2%.

European Stocks

European stocks fell Tuesday as some poor U.S. earnings weighed on investor sentiment already dented by a raft of lackluster economic data across the globe, although some indexes pared losses into the close as France's finance minister called for a stronger and quicker response to the continuing debt crisis.

After Chinese data showed economic growth in the world's second-largest economy to be slowing, Germany's ZEW confidence index also proved a disappointment to investors. That disappointment was only compounded by poor earnings from IBM overnight and Goldman Sachs Group midsession.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.4% to 235.33. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 5410.35, hurt by a fall in the heavily weighted mining sector. Germany's DAX managed a late rally to close up 0.3% at 5877.41 on the comments by French Finance Minister Francois Baroin. France's CAC-40 ended 0.8% lower at 3141.10, hurt by a fall in its blue-chip banks.

Germany's ZEW index fell to -48.3 in October, a deeper fall than expected and the weakest reading since late 2008. Meanwhile, bellwether Goldman Sachs disappointed with its third-quarter loss coming in worse than forecast, adding further pressure to European banking stocks already weakened by fears that European Union leaders won't deliver a comprehensive solution at their summit Sunday.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index for the banking sector lost 1.4%. BNP Paribas dropped 3.6% and Societe Generale was off 5%. Still more pressure on the banks came from worries about the French economy after Moody's Investors Service said the stable outlook of France's coveted triple-A rating was under threat.

Elsewhere, resource stocks slumped amid falling metal prices after data showed the Chinese economy is slowing. The Stoxx Europe 600 basic-resource index slipped 2.1%. In Europe, earnings were a mixed bag. Shares in French food company Danone rose 2.2% after it reported an 11% rise in third-quarter sales and said it was on track to meet its financial targets for the year. Anglo-Swiss mining company Xstrata lost 1.3%, even though it reported record third-quarter thermal coal output.

Asian Stocks

Asian stocks ended sharply lower Tuesday as Germany tempered expectations for a quick fix to the euro-zone debt crisis and Chinese data spurred slowdown concerns. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average ended down 1.6% at 8741.91, South Korea's Kospi fell 1.4% to 1838.90 and India's Sensex slid 1.6% to 16748.29.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 4.2% to 18076.46, while the Shanghai Composite fell 2.3% to 2383.49, taking a hit after China's third-quarter gross domestic product data showed the economy grew 9.1% from a year earlier, short of economists' 9.2% forecast.

Among interest-rate-sensitive stocks, China Merchants Bank's Hong Kong and Shanghai shares lost 7.3% and 2.6% respectively, while China Overseas Land fell 9.8% in Hong Kong and China Vanke shed 2% in Shenzhen. Reduced expectations for a euro-zone resolution weighed on the euro and hurt Japanese exporters.

NEC fell 2.9%, Toshiba lost 2.9%, Elpida Memory shed 3.6% and Fujitsu dropped 2.6%. Olympus closed down 8.9%, bringing its three-day drop to 43%, in a sign that its conference call with investors and analysts late Monday failed to alleviate doubts over the prices and advisory fees paid in a series of acquisitions.

The doubts were first raised publicly by Michael Woodford, following his ouster as president last week. Growth-sensitive resources shares lost ground around the region. Jiangxi Copper's Hong Kong and Shanghai shares shed 12% and 4.3% respectively, while Sumitomo Metal Mining fell 2.2% in Tokyo.

Commodities

Base metals ended mostly lower on the London Metal Exchange Tuesday, although the markets had pared earlier losses heading into the close in line with world equity markets and the euro.

The industry-linked metals tracked stock markets higher as they pulled up from their intraday lows during afternoon trade in Europe as France's finance minister called for a stronger and quicker response to the euro-zone debt crisis.

France is working on a strong response to the euro-zone debt crisis, Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Tuesday, ahead of this weekend's eagerly awaited European summit.

LME three-month copper closed the afternoon open outcry at $7,447 a metric ton, down 0.6% from Monday's PM kerb close. It was, however, up more than $230 from an earlier low of $7,215/ton.

U.S. oil futures advanced to their highest level in a month Tuesday, moving in lockstep with the rallying stock market and shrugging off concerns about weakening Chinese economic growth.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery settled up $1.96, or 2.3%, to $88.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 15.

Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange recently traded up $1.27, or 1.2%, to $111.43 a barrel. Gold fell for a second day as weaker than expected growth in China and worries about the euro-zone kept investors focused on holding cash instead of precious metals, though a rebound in equities helped push silver to slight gains.

The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, fell $23.80, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,652.80 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, a one-week low.