Hang Seng sets new record

In the Asia-Pacific region on Tuesday, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed at its highest level ever, adding 1.74 percent to 22,151.14.

Elsewhere, the Straits Times index in Singapore added 0.45 percent to 3,566.27, while the Sydney Ordinaries were 0.56 percent higher to 6,333.8 in Australia. In India, the Sensex was up 0.97 percent to 14,806.51.

The only exception to gains in Asia was in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 closed just about even at 18,149.90. The Topix managed a gain of 0.1 percent to 1,781.86.

European markets were higher as well. The FSTE Eurofirst 300 added 0.8 percent to 1,612.5.

In Madrid, the IBEX was 0.44 percent higher to 14,869.4, while the CAC-40 in Paris gained 0.71 percent to 6,069.84. The Dax was up 1.16 percent to 8,050.68 in Frankfurt.

In London, the FTSE 100 was 0.75 percent higher to 6,639.8, while the FTSE 250 added 1.85 percent on the session to close at 11,747.6.

On Wall Street, markets saw gains ahead of the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday. At mid-session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.27 percent to 13,571.45, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.35 percent to 2,641.41 and the S&P 500 was 0.26 percent higher to 1,523.43.

Crude oil prices were higher after new unplanned refinery unit shutdowns in the US, but Nymex prices remain lower than they were last year at this time.

Precious metals prices were lower, but copper was up in New York.

US Treasury bond prices were lower as equities markets saw gains and new data showed US factory orders were down less than had been expected in May.

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