U.S. stocks finished higher on Tuesday, with all three major indexes ending up more than 1 percent, flowing better-than-expected data on retail sales and inflation. In world markets, European stocks ended higher, led by the DAX in Germany rising 1.7 percent. Asian markets ended mostly higher, as both the Shanghai Composite and the Nikkei in Japan rose 1.1 percent. In U.S. economic news, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the United States would be forced to stop payments on some existing obligations if the debt ceiling is not raised. Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales fell 0.2 percent in May. While it was the first decline in 11 months, it was much less of a drop than economists had forecast. Separately, the U.S. Labor Department issued a report on the producer price index (PPI), also known as manufacturer inflation. The PPI rose 0.2 percent in May, slightly better than the 0.1 percent that economists had forecast. In U.S. company news, Honda released its full year forecast, announcing that it expects a 63.5 percent drop in 2011 profit. Shares of Honda fell 0.4 percent. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and rose versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery rose $2.07 to $99.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $8.80 to $1,524.40 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 123.14, or 1.0 percent, to 12,076.11. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16.04, or 1.3 percent, to 1,287.87. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 39.03, or 1.5 percent, to 2,678.72.
