US and European Stock Indices Rise, Oil Prices Climb; Inflation Data Surprises

Global stock markets experienced gains on Tuesday, while oil prices rose at a more moderate pace. The increase was tempered by US President Donald Trump's decision to drop a plan to impose a 20% tariff on cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Several major US banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo, reported higher second-quarter profits, although their stock prices moved without a uniform trend. However, key Wall Street indices posted gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1% to 52,508.27 points, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 7,543.59 points, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.9% to 26,107.01 points.

Market participants welcomed US consumer price data showing annual inflation fell to 3.5% in June from 4.2% in May, a steeper decline than the 3.8% forecast by analysts. The drop was driven by a sharp decrease in energy prices.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB, noted that this was the mildest price increase in six years, sharply reducing the likelihood of an interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's July 29 monetary policy meeting. The US dollar weakened against major currencies as traders scaled back expectations of a rate hike.

European bourses also advanced. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 10,529.39 points, Paris's CAC 40 gained less than 0.1% to 8,366.39 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 30 increased 0.1% to 25,147.03 points.

In oil markets, WTI crude futures in New York climbed 1.5% to $79.34 per barrel, while Brent crude in London rose 1.7% to $84.73. Dutch TTF natural gas futures added 3.3% to €52.96 per megawatt-hour.

In currency markets, the euro strengthened to $1.1423, the British pound rose to $1.3386, and the US dollar fell to 162.18 Japanese yen. The euro also edged up against the pound to 85.33 pence.