In European Equity Markets the pan-European STOXX 600 closed the session up 0.8 percent, with almost all sectors ending in the black. Across the board, major bourses finished higher, with Germany’s DAX jumpng 1.57 percent, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 popped 0.39 percent and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.76 percent. Basic resources stocks were among the top performing sectors Tuesday, jumping 1.3 percent following robust GDP data from Beijing. Drug giant Reckitt Benckiser fell towards the bottom of the European benchmark, off 3.2 percent, after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the stock to “underperform” from “neutral.”

In Currency Markets sterling vaulted to its highest level since Britain voted to leave the European Union in June 2016 as expectations swelled that the central bank will raise interest rates for the second time in seven months. Though weaker than expected wage data pulled the currency back from those highs, markets were pricing in a more than an even chance of a May rate increase of a quarter of a percentage point. After rising as high as $1.4377, the pound settled 0.2 percent down at $1.4310, still up 6 percent this year. Against the euro, sterling fell 0.1 percent to 86.26 pence, still close to 11-month highs.

In Commodities Markets oil steadied on Tuesday as investors took profit on last week’s rally above three-year highs, with prices supported by growing concern over the potential for supply disruptions. Brent crude oil futures were up 11 cents at $71.53 a barrel, having come off an earlier high of $71.89, while U.S. crude futures were largely flat at $66.19. Brent has risen 1.5 percent so far this month. It hit a peak of $73.09, the highest since late 2014, on mounting tensions in the Middle East, the possibility of renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran and falling output in Venezuela, where economic crisis has cut oil output to multi-year lows.

In US Equity Markets indexes rose on Tuesday as strong earnings from Netflix, Goldman Sachs and healthcare companies boosted optimism over what is expected to be the strongest earnings season in seven years. Netflix jumped 6.2 percent after the video-streaming pioneer smashed analysts’ quarterly subscriber estimates, helped by a blitz of original content. The S&P 500 gained 0.67 percent to 2,695.89 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.92 percent to 7,222.07. Nine of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 1.3 percent gain in the consumer discretionary index. United Health jumped nearly 5 percent after the largest U.S. health insurer raised its earnings forecast and posted results that beat estimates.

In Bond Markets short-dated Treasury yields continued to rise on Tuesday, driving the yield curve to its flattest level in over a decade, as economic data from March supported further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve in 2018. U.S. home-building increased more than expected in March amid a rebound in the construction of multi-family housing units, despite weakness in the single-family segment. The benchmark 10-year government bond was last at 2.834 slightly above its last close at 2.832. The two-year yield was last up at 2.399, its highest level since August 2008. The spread between two- and 10-year Treasury bond yields hit 43.20 basis points, its lowest level since August 2007.