Global stocks were higher Tuesday as investors waited for the new Federal Reserve chief's testimony to Congress, which might give clues to how quickly the U.S. central bank will withdraw its economic stimulus, AP reported. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.8 percent to 6,642.44 and Germany's DAX gained 1.1 percent to 9,388.34. The CAC-40 in France rose 0.8 percent to 4,269.34. Wall Street was set for gains, with Dow futures and S&P 500 futures both up 0.4 percent. Investors will see Janet Yellen in the public spotlight for the first time as she testifies before Congress later Tuesday. Markets are waiting to see if she will consider a pause in cutting monetary stimulus because of weaker hiring by U.S. employers in the past few months. Earlier in Asia, China's Shanghai Composite added 0.8 percent to 2,103.67 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.8 percent to 21,962.98. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6 percent at 5,254.50. Japan's market was closed for a public holiday. Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok and Jakarta all rose. Benchmark U.S. oil for March delivery was up 20 cents to $100.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 18 cents on Monday to close at $100.06. The euro rose to $1.3673 from $1.3646 late Monday. The dollar rose to 102.30 yen from 102.18.
