Equity Markets
European stocks broke a three-day losing streak, building on gains in other markets boosted by signs of a global economic recovery and rising commodity prices.
In London, the FTSE was up nearly 0.7 per cent, while in Paris the CAC was up 0.5 per cent.
Asian shares also rose on Tuesday after modest gains on Wall Street, while robust metals prices underpinned some regional markets even as investors remained wary ahead of the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole later this week.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.7 per cent.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.1 per cent while the blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.2 per cent.
The MSCI Asia ex-Japan materials index was 1 per cent higher, buoyed by recent spot price gains.
The Australian stock market got a helping hand from strong gains for global mining giant BHP Billiton, which reported a surge in annual underlying profit to $6.7-billion on Tuesday.
South Korean shares added 0.5 per cent, despite lingering worries about tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The country's forces began computer-simulated military exercises with the United States on Monday, which Pyongyang has denounced as a "reckless" step toward a nuclear war.
Australian shares rose 0.4 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei stock index finished down 0.1 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices rose on Tuesday, lifted by indications that supply may be tightening gradually, especially in the United States.
"U.S. crude oil stocks have been falling consistently in recent weeks," said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at futures brokerage Forex.com.
"If the downtrend in oil inventories is maintained, then a bullish case can be made for oil, especially given the ongoing supply restrictions from OPEC and Russia," he added.
U.S. commercial crude inventories have fallen by almost 13 per cent from their March peaks, to 466.5 million barrels.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers including Russia have pledged to hold back around 1.8 million bpd of output between January this year and March 2018 in order to tighten supplies and prop up prices.
But oil production elsewhere has been rising, blunting the impact of output cuts by OPEC and its allies.
U.S. crude production has broken through 9.5 million barrels per day (bpd), its highest since July 2015.
The weekly rollout of data on U.S. inventories starts later on Tuesday, giving the market a chance to see if the recent downward trend in U.S. crude stocks is continuing.
Industry group the American Petroleum Institute will publish statistics on crude inventories and refinery operations for last week at 4:30 p.m. ET.
On Wednesday, it will be the turn of the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration.
U.S. crude inventories are expected to have fallen for an eighth straight week and drop by 3.4 million barrels, a Reuters poll shows.
Gold prices fell on Tuesday, under pressure from a stronger dollar ahead of an annual meeting of central bankers this week, while speculative buying pushed palladium to its highest since February 2001.
Investors are waiting for speeches from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at Jackson Hole for clues to the direction of interest and currency rates.
Tensions between North Korea and the United States are also in focus.
Silver fell 0.1 per cent to $16.95 an ounce, and platinum slipped 0.8 per cent to $970.00.
Palladium was down 0.4 per cent at $935.00 an ounce, after earlier touching $940.
Currencies and bonds
The loonie edged up early Tuesday to 79.83 cents U.S.
On Tuesday, the U.S. dollar inched higher against a basket of currencies, with traders focusing on the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole for insights into the outlook for monetary policy.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, edged up 0.1 per cent.
Gains for the dollar pushed sterling back towards lows from early July on Tuesday, with the British currency weighed down by an uncertain economic outlook that has quashed expectations of a rise in Bank of England interest rates.
Stocks set to see action
BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, reported a surge in underlying full-year profits on Tuesday and said it would exit its underperforming U.S. shale oil and gas business, pleasing disgruntled shareholders who had called for a sale. The stock was up over 2 per cent in premarket trading in New York.
CGI Group Inc. announced a tender offer of €4.55 per share, or $146-million cash, for Affecto PLC, a business intelligence and enterprise information management provider.
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Economic News
The key global economic report released today is the Germany ZEW Survey.
Canadian retail sales figures for June showed a rise of 0.1 per cent to $49.0 billion — the fourth consecutive monthly gain. The consensus projection was an increase of 0.3 per cent from May.
U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency figures showed a 1.6 per cent rise in house prices in the second quarter of 2017. Prices were up 6.6 per cent from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017.
Earnings on Tuesday include Intuit Inc., Patient Home Monitoring Corp., and Salesforce.com Inc.
With files from Reuters and Bloomberg