U.S. stocks finished higher Tuesday, extending gains for a third day, as investors continue to expect global central banks will step in to support the market. Stocks have advanced for two consecutive sessions, fueled by a better-than-expected July jobs report last week and hopes that the European Central Bank will resume its purchases of Spanish and Italian government bonds. In world markets, European stocks ended higher, led by the CAC 40 in France rising 1.4 percent. Asian markets also ended higher, led by the Nikkei in Japan rising 0.9 percent. In U.S. economic news, consumer credit increased by $6.5 billion in June according to data from the Federal Reserve. Economists had expected consumer credit to have risen by $10 billion. The U.S. dollar fell against the euro and rose against the yen. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery rose $1.34 to $93.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell 30 cents to $1,615.90 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 51.09, or 0.4 percent, to 13,168.60. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 7.12, or 0.5 percent, to 1,401.35. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 25.95, or 0.9 percent, to 3,015.86.
