European economic confidence rises, US consumer confidence falls

There was good news for Europe on Tuesday.

The report from the European Commission showed that its economic sentiment indicator for the euro area rose to 92.5 in July, the highest reading in 15 months, from 91.3 in June, providing another indication that the region's recession may be coming to an end.

Elsewhere in Europe, GfK's UK consumer confidence index rose to -16 in July, the highest reading since April 2010, from -21 in June.

However, in the US, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index fell to 80.3 in July from 82.1 in June.

Another report on Tuesday showed that the US housing market is maintaining momentum though. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 cities rose 12.2 percent in May from a year earlier, the biggest 12-month gain since March 2006.

Earlier on Tuesday, data from Japan raised doubts about its recovery. Japanese industrial production fell 3.3 percent in June while household spending fell 0.4 percent in June from a year earlier.

More encouragingly, however, another report showed that Japan's unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in June, the lowest in more than four years, from 4.1 percent in May.