In European Equity Markets strength among commodity firms and banking stocks as well as a string of solid updates boosted stocks on Tuesday. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4 percent. Among outperforming banks, Raiffeisen  was a standout gainer, up 6.8 percent, after second-quarter profit roughly tripled to 365 million euros ($425.41 million), helped by reductions in bad debt provisions. Miner Antofagasta was the biggest gainer on the STOXX as the sector was buoyed by a rise in copper prices. Europe’s tech sector saw iPhone supplier AMS and mobile speaker maker Logitech rise in initial deals after both firms raised their outlook.

In Currency Markets the dollar fell to its lowest level since June 2016 against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday as investors grew wary of the short-term U.S. economic outlook ahead of a meeting by the Federal Reserve and got more bullish on the euro zone. The euro was last up 0.4 percent to $1.1683. Sterling eased to $1.3036, up 0.06 percent, after rallying to session highs of $1.3084 on the back of a tweet from President Donald Trump outlining that his administration is working on “major trade deal” with the United Kingdom. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 111.62, up 0.47 percent. The dollar index rose by 0.01 percent to 93.83.

In Commodities Markets oil rose around 3 percent on Tuesday, a day after U.S. oil producer Anadarko said it would cut capital spending plans and Saudi Arabia vowed to reduce crude exports to help curb global oversupply. Brent crude futures rose 2.8 percent to $49.97 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 3 percent to $47.73 a barrel. Spot gold was 0.2 percent lower at $1,252.59 an ounce, not far from the previous session’s peak of $1,258.79, its highest since June 23. Silver rose 0.4 percent to $16.50 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.2 percent to $923 and palladium advanced 1.8 percent to $863.75.

In US Equity Markets  the S&P and the Dow were higher in late morning trading on Tuesday, helped by a string of strong quarterly earnings from companies, including McDonald’s and Caterpillar, while the Nasdaq was little changed as a fall in Alphabet weighed. The Dow was up 0.49 percent, at 21,618.47. The S&P 500 was up 0.34 percent, at 2,478.44. The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.06 percent, at 6,407.17. Shares of McDonald’s rose 3.5 percent and hit an all-time high after the fast-food giant posted the biggest rise in sales at established restaurants globally in five years. Caterpillar was up 4.7 percent after the company raised its full-year outlook for the second time this year.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday as expectations that legislators in Washington may pass a healthcare overhaul and rising stocks reduced demand for safe-haven U.S. bonds. Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 13/32 in price to yield 2.30 percent, up from 2.25 percent on Monday. Yields on three-month Treasury bills rose to almost 10-year highs on Tuesday after the Treasury Department on Monday saw tepid demand for a $39 billion auction of the bills.

European Equity Upgrades/Downgrades

• RYANAIR (RYA LN) UPGRADED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT HSBC
• HENKEL AG & CO. (HEN GY) RESUMED WITH BUY AT JEFFERIES
• AXEL SPRINGER (SPR GY) UPGRADED TO OVERWEIGHT FROM EQUAL WEIGHT AT BARCLAYS
• FEROVIAL (FER SM) DOWNGRADED TO HOLD FROM BUY AT DEUTSCHE BANK
• SSAB A (SSAB SS) UPGRADED TO NEUTRAL FROM OVERWEIGHT AT JPMORGAN