Markets rise, German investor confidence jumps

Markets have been in buoyant mood recently, and that mood continued on Tuesday with the S&P 500 gaining 0.7 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rising 0.3 percent to an 18-month high.

US stocks rose despite a report on Tuesday showing an increase in the US trade deficit in October following a 3.6 percent fall in exports and a 2.1 percent decline in imports.

However, another report on Tuesday showed that German investor confidence jumped in December, with the ZEW index of investor and analyst expectations rising to 6.9 from minus 15.7 in November.

Asian stocks were mixed on Tuesday though despite a report showing that Chinese bank lending rose to 522.9 billion yuan in November from 505.2 billion yuan in October.