[R]7:30AM Asian markets finished higher on Tuesday with China at record high.[/R]
Asian markets ended higher on Tuesday. Tokyo Nikkei 225 average ended 1.3% higher at 17,244.05. Mitsui & Co. rose 3.3% after the company said it had won a 90 billion yen contract with a group of other companies to build a railroad line in Saudi Arabia. Other Japanese gainers included Sony, whose shares rose 2.4%.Shares of Nikon, gained 4.2%, extending its recent rising trend. Among auto makers, shares of Honda rose 2.5% while Toyota Motor fell 0.1%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index ended 0.9% up at 20,002.70, while Shanghai Composite Index closed 1.2% higher to 3,291.29. Advances were fueled by heavy large-cap buying on strong fund inflows and expectations of buoyant first-quarter earnings. Shanghai-listed shares of China Life gained 1.1%, while property group China Vanke added 2.6%.Shares of Citic 1616 Holdings, a telecom unit of mainland conglomerate Citic Pacific, surged 73% above their offer price in debut Hong Kong trading.

Australian S&P/ASX 200 ended 1.7% higher at 6,013.4, a five-week high. Gains were buoyed after Wesfarmers announced it acquired 11.3% of Coles Myer. Shares of BHP Billiton rose 1.9% after copper futures rose 3.3 cents to $3.179 a pound. South Korean Kospi index added 0.3% to end at 1,463.75, Singapore Straits Times Index ended 1.3% higher at 3,288.36, Taiwan Weighted Price Index rose 0.6% to close at 7,932.91.


[R]6:30AM Europe was higher Tuesday on takeover activities, miners.[/R]
European markets were higher on Tuesday. By mid morning, Frankfurt Xetra Dax added 0.9% to 6,997.43, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.6% to 5,678.9 and London FTSE 100 climbed 0.5% to 6,345.3. National benchmarks rose in all 18 markets in western Europe.

Advancers

German utility Eon abandoned its attempt to take full control over Spanish Endesa after coming up against too many obstacles, including counter bids and stakebuilding by rivals and tough regulatory conditions imposed by Spanish authorities. Eon conceded defeat to Enel of Italy and Spanish builder Acciona. Eon shares were up 7%, while Enel added 2.1% and Acciona added 4.3%.

Scottish & Southern Energy, the third-largest gas and electricity supplier in the UK, rallied 1.7%. Centrica, the biggest energy supplier in the UK, climbed 1.8 %.

BHP, the world largest mining company, gained 1.7 %, while Rio Tinto, the world third-largest mining company, climbed 2.4 %. Xstrata, the world fourth-largest copper producer, advanced 2.8%.

German tyre and car parts maker Continental rose 3.9% on speculation it was the target of an unnamed private equity bid.

Telecom Italia continued its climb higher following interest from AT&T and America Movil in buying stakes in the company. After gaining 10% in the previous session, the shares were up a further 1.5%.

Decliners

There were no major decliners.

Oil and gold

Crude oil fell as the U.K. planned talks with Iran on the release of 15 British sailors and marines, easing concern the dispute would disrupt crude supplies from the Middle East. Crude oil for May delivery declined $1.20, or 1.8%, to $64.74 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $64.88 in early trade in London time. Oil has risen about 5.2% since the sailors and marines were seized, on March 23. Brent crude for May settlement fell as much as 88 cents, or 1.3%, to $67.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the ICE Futures exchange. Gold traded in London at $663.10 per troy ounce, up from $658.40 late Monday.

The dollar was higher against most other major currencies in early European trading Tuesday. The euro traded at $1.3354, down from $1.3373 late Monday. The British pound traded at $1.9761, down from $1.9775. The dollar fetched 118.53 Japanese yen, up from 117.57.