World markets edge higher on earning, data

European markets largely pushed past their Asian counterparts Tuesday, rallying on upbeat economic and earnings data that for the moment eclipsed an earlier sell-off prompted by the US government's fraud case against Goldman Sachs & Co.

London's FTSE 100 was 1 percent higher, at 5782.99 while France's CAC 40 rose by 1.3 percent to 4,023.14.

Germany's DAX rallied ahead by 1.6 percent to 6,260.17, pulled ahead by strong economic data from Europe's largest economy.

In late morning trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 24.48, or 0.2 percent, to 11,116.53. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.20, or 0.6 percent, to 1,204.72. The Nasdaq composite index rose 11.43, or 0.5 percent, to 2,491.54. The Dow had gained 73.39 points, or 0.7 percent on Monday to 11,092.05.

Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia, said the market climbed ahead of more US corporate earnings reports so a slowdown isn't unexpected now that earnings are starting to arrive. "We got paid ahead for this earnings period," he said.

The gains in Europe ran ahead of gains in Asia, and pre-empted a rise in most stocks in the US, which built on the previous day's late rally driven by solid earnings reports. Oil surged above $83 per barrel by midmorning on the New York Mercantile Exchange, erasing the prior day's decline fueled by flight disruptions in Europe from the Icelandic volcano, as well as the potential broader impact of the Goldman charges on other banks.

Markets worldwide had retreated after the US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman last week with fraud for its dealings in subprime mortgage securities.