In European Equity Markets stocks closed higher Tuesday, as China said it would reduce tariffs on cars and auto parts and pressure on Italian markets eased. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up 0.27 percent, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory. Autos were among those to lead the gains, up almost 1 percent after China’s Finance Ministry said it would cut the import duty on passenger cars to 15 percent from current levels of 25 percent. The announcement, which came Tuesday, also said tariffs on some automotive parts would fall to 6 percent. Schaeffler and BMW were trading more than 2.5 percent higher following the news. 

In Currency Markets the US dollar retreated on Tuesday after six straight days of gains, as U.S. Treasury yields dipped and investors looked for fresh incentives to buy the currency in the wake of its nearly 7 percent rally since mid-February. The dollar index was down 0.1 percent at 93.584, after hitting a five-month high on Monday. In other currency pairs, the dollar rose against the euro, which slipped 0.1 percent to $1.1778 amid political uncertainty in Italy. The country’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League on Monday proposed Giuseppe Conte as prime minister to lead their coalition government. Analysts at Rabobank said they had lowered their target for euro versus the dollar to $1.15.

In Commodities Markets brent crude oil jumped 1.5 percent to above $80 a barrel on Tuesday, supported by concern that falling Venezuelan crude output and a potential drop in Iranian exports could further tighten global supply. Brent crude futures rose $1.19 to $80.41 a barrel, a 1.5 percent gain. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 59 cents to $72.83 a barrel, a 0.8 percent gain. It earlier touched $72.83 a barrel, highest since November 2014. The U.S. government imposed new sanctions on Venezuela following Sunday’s re-election of President Nicolas Maduro, a move that analysts say could further curb the country’s oil output, already at its lowest in decades.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose on Tuesday, adding to gains from a day earlier, as the United States and China made progress on reducing trade tensions after agreeing to put their differences on hold. Micron jumped 6.9 percent after announcing a $10 billion share buyback following a raised quarterly forecast on Monday, helping the technology index rise 0.3 percent. The S&P 500 was up 0.21 percent, at 2,738.82. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.27 percent, at 7,414.01. Toll Brothers declined 7.3 percent after disappointing second-quarter profit and weighed on other home-builders. Lennar fell 1.7 percent, while PulteGroup slid 2 percent.

In Bond Markets Italian government bond yields slipped from multi-month highs on Tuesday after six days of heavy selling, though reports that the incoming coalition could pick a euro-sceptic figure as economy minister tempered the recovery in bonds. Italian 10-year bond yields down just 1 bps at 2.32 percent. Two-year Italian yields meanwhile were down 8 bps at 0.19 percent. The closely watched Italy/Germany 10-year bond yield spread, a reflection of the premium investors demand to hold Italian risk compared with “safe” German bonds, was at 179 bps, widening after having tightened to around 171 bps earlier. The spread had widened to almost 190 bps in early trade.