U.S. and European stocks posted mixed results on Tuesday, with the British FTSE100 barely changed at 6,319, a dozen points below its closing price yesterday.

BoE published its last report on housing equity withdrawals, which showed a contraction of 10.9B, equity withdrawals are often viewed as a proxy to consumer spending and overall GDP performance.

German index DAX rose 5 points reaching 9923, up 0.44%, French CAC index was up 16 points, or 0.34%, the Eurozone Markit PMI came out earlier with 51.9, better than last month's 51.4, a reading above 50 indicates growth.

For U.S. markets, the S&P 500 was down 0.14% as of 14:52 GMT, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.58% to 4299, the Dow Jones was the only gainer, up 22 points to 16,790.

Crude oil surged on Tuesday, with Brent up more about 4%, breaking a crucial resistance range and fetching $51.12 a barrel.

U.S. oil rose more than 3%, reaching $47.38 a barrel.

In currencies, the dollar fell after the trade balance report came out, showing a widening in U.S. trade deficit in August by a full $48.3 billion, compared with last month's $41.8 billion, the report shows further contraction in U.S. exports, due to strengthening dollar in the last months and weak global demand.

The dollar traded at 1.5314 against the Sterling, and fetched 120.22 Yen, continuing the fall from highs reached across the last 3 weeks, against the Euro, it was last at 1.1266.  

The Euro rose against its counterparts after the positive PMI report, reaching 0.7400 against the Sterling. Against the yen it surged to 135.44.

The Canadian trade balance report came out as well, posting a deficit of 2.5B, compared with last month's 0.8B deficit, the Canadian dollar advanced nonetheless against the U.S. dollar for the fifth day in a row, reaching 1.3058.

Spot gold is up 1% on Tuesday, or $11.33, reaching $1,149.20 an ounce.