US Equities close near their highs

US Dollar:
On Monday the USD gained against most other Currencies amid concerns over the U.K’s Credit outlook and trepidation ahead of a slew of government debt auctions in Europe. U.S stock futures are mixed on Tuesday morning, after markets edged up on Monday, led by tech stocks.
Goldman Sachs is expected to ask for more time to respond to a lawsuit filled by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the powerhouse of fraud. The ramifications should the allegations stick will be felt beyond Wall Street.
DATA : US Trade Balance ; US Redbook

Pound:
The U.K pound declined on Monday against the USD after Standard & Poor’s affirmed the country’s top-shelf credit rating but re-iterated its negative outlook on the U.K again warning its debt level could threaten the coun-try’s coveted AAA rating. Chancellor Osbourne must be left scratching his head as after the generally well re-ceived emergency Budget he must have thought he had done enough to stop this type of murmurings from the debt agencies rattling their un-elected chains! It was as if to say “Not bad but your not out of the woods yet and we are still most definitely watching. This along with the Chinese agency saying all the Western agencies are effectively cooking the books for ideological reasons, rating all Western economies far higher than they should be adds further pressure. Anything that could in any shape affect the course of Chinese investment causes a stir so this story could be very interesting should it unfold further and potentially very inflammatory.
DATA: UK Retail sales ; UK RICS ; UK CPI ; UK RPI

Euro:
The spotlight returns to European financial woes, after several weeks in which investors concentrated on the health of the US recovery as Euro-zone governments, including Spain and Greece, gear up to sell around EUR30 Billion in debt this week. Investor interest getting drawn back to Europe will hopefully not highlight any fresh issues and problems. Greece’s bond offering on Tuesday, in particular, will be carefully watched. If the Euro-zone debt auctions go well, and if next weeks bank stress tests satisfy investor appetite for assurance the debt crisis hasn’t infected the regions banking system, the Euro has room to appreciate to $1.30 over the next month said currency analyst at DZ Bank AG in Franfurt.
DATA: FR CPI ; GER ZEW Data

General:  
Shares in China were trading sharply lower, dragging on the rest of the region after the government denied an unsourced report in the state run Securities Times Monday that China had loosened some controls on mortgage lending in first tier cities.