Markets struggled for direction as they grappled with worries over global growth, following weak Chinese and U.S. economic data that knocked oil prices and commodity-linked currencies. Investors' latest move to the safety of the dollar came after the raft of weak global economic indicators.

- The Fed since March has delivered a stiff set of interest rate increases in an effort to battle inflation. Some investors have worried that an aggressive pace of rate hikes by the U.S. central bank could push the economy into recession.

- Higher interest rates can depress stock multiples, especially of technology and other growth stocks. US data in recent weeks also has bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve can achieve a soft landing for the economy.

Equities:

- In Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose on Monday with mega cap growth shares, extending the market's recent rally amid investor optimism the Federal Reserve can achieve a soft landing for the economy. Shares of Apple Inc climbed 0.6%, while Microsoft Corp rose 0.5% and Tesla Inc jumped 3.1%. Those stocks gave the S&P 500 and Nasdaq their biggest boosts as U.S. Treasury yields eased.

- The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 135 points or 0.40%, to 33,890, while the S&P 500 added 17.01 points or 0.40% , to 4,297.15 points, while the Nasdaq Composite added 101 points or 0.74% up to 13,660.2.

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Currency Market:

- The U.S. dollar edged higher in early European trade Tuesday, remaining near a one-week high as global recession fears prompted demand for the safe haven currency. The Dollar Index traded 0.2% higher at 106.632, climbing above the previous session's peak of 106.55, the strongest since Monday of last week.

- GBP/USD fell 0.2% to 1.2027 after Britain's labor market showed more signs of cooling.

- EUR/USD fell 0.2% to 1.0142, falling to the weakest since Aug. 5, USD/JPY rose 0.3% to 133.67. Commodity-linked currencies are down, with AUD/USD trading at 0.7020 and USD/CAD at around 1.2910.

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Commodities: Gold

- The benchmark gold futures contract settled at $1,798.10, down $17.40, or almost 1%. While the spot price of bullion, more closely followed than futures by some traders, was at $1,779.36, down $29, or 1.4%, on the day.

- As long as gold, on a daily basis, closes above $1780, the short term uptrend is intact. Gold could remain boxed at just under $1,800 until the release of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes on Wednesday.

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Commodities: Oil

- Oil prices fell on Tuesday as bleak economic data from top crude buyer China renewed fears of a global recession.

- Brent crude futures fell $1.21, or 1.3%, to $93.89 a barrel. WTI crude futures dipped 84 cents, or 0.9%, to $88.57 a barrel. The oil future benchmarks fell about 3% in their previous sessions.
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