In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Tuesday, looking to recover after two straight months of losses, with corporate earnings reports spurring brisk trading ahead of a what is typically a sleepy summer period for markets. The pan-European STOXX 600 index, nursing two straight months of losses, rose 0.6 percent. Blue chips closed 0.9 percent higher, their best one-day gains in three weeks. British companies were the top gainers, with aerospace and defense firm Rolls-Royce shooting up 11.6 percent, its best day in a year, after beating expectations with a rise in first-half profit thanks to a step-up in production. BP rose 2.8 percent and boosting the oil & gas sector after beating forecasts as new projects supported production.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar briefly touched a 15-month low against a basket of major currencies on Tuesday on political turmoil in Washington and weak U.S. economic data that kept the Federal Reserve’s policy outlook uncertain. The dollar was last at 110.22 yen. The euro was down 0.4 percent against the dollar at $1.1797 but not far from a 2-1/2-year high of $1.1845 touched Monday. Sterling traded flat at $1.3218, as manufacturing data topped forecasts ahead of an eagerly awaited interest rate decision from the Bank of England due Thursday. The Australian dollar fell 0.29 percent to $0.7978, following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s unchanged rate decision. The dollar index rose by 0.26 percent to 92.91.

In Commodities Markets oil slid about 3 percent from a two-month high on Tuesday as major world oil producers kept pumping out supply, worrying investors that several weeks of steady gains had pushed the rally too far, too fast. Brent crude was down $1.55 a barrel, to $51.18. U.S. crude was down 3.1 percent, to $48.64 a barrel.  Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,268.25 per ounce. In other precious metals, silver fell 0.4 percent to $16.73 per ounce. Palladium gained 1.2 percent to $893.20 per ounce, after it hit a near seven-week high of $897.05 in the previous session. Platinum climbed 0.8 percent to $942.75 per ounce, after rising to $945.60, a high since June 14.

In US Equity Markets  stocks were higher in late morning trading on Tuesday, with the Dow coming within spitting distance of the 22,000 mark, helped by strong corporate earnings. The Dow was up 0.41 percent, at 21,981.04 and the S&P 500 was up 0.22 percent, at 2,475.90. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.26 percent, at 6,364.61. A 0.22 percent fall in healthcare led the laggards. Pfizer was down 1.10 percent after the drugmaker’s quarterly revenue missed expectations. Regeneron fell 3.58 percent following a rating downgrade by a brokerage. Under Armour fell 6.41 percent after the sportswear maker cut its full-year sales forecast. Sprint jumped 9.78 percent after swinging to a quarterly profit for the first time in three years.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Tuesday as buying demand from month-end extensions passed and U.S. economic data contained no significant surprises. Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 7/32 in price to yield 2.32 percent, up from 2.29 percent late on Monday. Germany’s two-year yield fell as much as 3 basis points to minus 0.703 percent, its lowest since June 13. Most 10-year bond yields across the euro zone were 5-6 basis points lower on the day.

European Equity Upgrades/Downgrades

• NATIONAL GRID (NG/ LN) RAISED TO BUY FROM HOLD AT BERENBERG
• SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (SU FP) RAISED TO HOLD FROM UNDERPERFORM AT JEFFERIES
• ASM (ASM NL) DOWNGRADED TO EQUAL WEIGHT FROM OVERWEIGHT AT MORGAN STANLEY
• UBI BANCA (UBI IM) DOWNGRADED TO HOLD FROM BUY AT SOCGEN
• CREDIT SUISSE (CSGN VX) ADDED TO FOCUS LIST AT CITIGROUP
• CASTELLUM (CAST SW) INITIATED WITH AN OVERWEIGHT RATING AT JPMORGAN