In European Equity Markets indices closed higher Tuesday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel calmed a brewing row over migration that threatened her fragile government. Germany’s DAX was among those to lead the gains, up 0.9 percent on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 ended the day higher by 0.48 percent, despite the decline in Basic Resources’ stocks. Glencore fell 8 percent to the bottom of the index after U.S. authorities demanded the company hand over documents relating to its business in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela.

In Currency Markets the US dollar fell on Tuesday as investors consolidated recent gains and focused less on trade tensions, raising the market’s risk appetite and prompting some flows into other currencies such as the euro and Australian dollar. The Australian dollar, sensitive to developments in China because it is a key buyer of Australian commodity exports, extended gains and rose 0.7 percent on the day to US$0.7387. The yuan fell to 6.7204 per dollar, its weakest since Aug. 7, 2017, before recovering to trade at 6.6466 per dollar.

In Commodities Markets crude prices fell Tuesday, retreating from early gains that had lifted the U.S. benchmark as high as $75 for the first time in more than three years, which prompted traders with bullish positions to book some profits ahead of the July 4 U.S. holiday. U.S. light crude fell 94 cents to $73.00 a barrel, after hitting $75.27, a 3-1/2-year high. Benchmark Brent crude was down 31 cents at $76.96 a barrel after briefly touching a session low of $76.67 a barrel. Early in the session, Brent traded as high as $78.55 a barrel.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Tuesday, when markets close early ahead of the July 4 holiday, boosted by energy stocks, but gains were capped by a drop in technology stocks, with Facebook sliding on renewed concerns over its data scandal. Facebook fell 1.9 percent after the Washington Post reported a federal probe on the data breach linked to Cambridge Analytica was broadened and will include more government agencies. The S&P 500 was up 0.13 percent, at 2,730.13 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.04 percent, at 7,564.88.

In Bond Markets the gap between Italian and German government bond yields was at its tightest in almost two weeks on Tuesday as worries about a possible collapse of the Berlin government eased, but the moves were muted as trade war concerns hung over the market. German 10-year bond yields briefly rose 2 bps to 0.32 percent on Tuesday before falling back to trade about 1 bps lower at 0.29 percent. Other major euro zone bond yields nudged down in late trade while Italian bond yields ceded earlier falls.