Earnings season pushes major stock gauges higher

Most major stocks gauges advanced on Tuesday as earnings season continued, helping buoy investor sentiment against a backdrop of trade angst and geopolitical noise. The dollar slipped and Treasuries edged lower.

Futures on the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq all pointed to a higher open, while miners were among the big winners in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index as commodities climbed. Chinese stocks led a broad rally in Asia, with the Shanghai Composite Index posting its biggest gain in two years on hopes for more policy support for investment. The greenback headed for the largest drop in more than a week while the British pound trimmed some of its recent losses. The lira — which has been rocked by a diplomatic spat between Turkey and the U.S. — clawed its way back from a record low, only to later give up most gains.

As earnings season enters its final phase, most major U.S. companies have now reported and about four out of five have surprised to the upside. That’s helped put the S&P 500 within touching distance of a record, even as investors fret the escalating trade war between America and China. Meanwhile, geopolitical concerns linger in the background, including confusion about the status of negotiations intended to lead to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and the Trump administration’s restoration of some U.S. sanctions on Iran.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbed 0.6 percent as of 6:31 a.m. New York time, the highest in a week. Futures on the S&P 500 Index gained 0.2 percent to the highest in about six months. The MSCI All-Country World Index rose 0.4 percent to the highest in more than a week. The MSCI Emerging Market Index increased 0.7 percent, the largest climb in almost two weeks.

Elsewhere, crude climbed after Saudi Arabian production cuts added to concern about tightening worldwide supplies. Gold advanced with industrial metals. European sovereign bonds were mixed and range bound, although Italian notes rose.