Stocks climb as investors digest economic news

U.S. stocks closed higher Tuesday as investors weighed the impact of two economic reports, including one on retail sales in July.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 0.2%, the Standard & Poor's 500 was 0.3% higher, and the Nasdaq composite index gained about 0.5%. The indexes had opened modestly higher but quickly reversed course and headed lower within the first hour of trading, before heading up again.

The Commerce Department released July's retail sales and Wall Street is looking at results showing consumers bought more clothing and other goods, but slowed their car purchases.

The yield on the bellwether 10-year Treasury jumped to 2.68% from 2.58% a day earlier as bond investors reacted negatively to the relatively weak retail sales report.

Elsewhere, the Tokyo benchmark rose 2.8% to 13,867, rebounding from a moderate drop by the Nikkei 225 on Monday sparked by weaker-than-anticipated economic growth. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.1% to 22, 512.34. South Korea's Kospi advanced 1.5% to 1,913.03.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.6% higher, Germany's DAX 30 index was up 0.7%. France's CAC 40 index was up 0.5%.

On Monday, the Dow fell marginally to 15,419.68. The S&P 500 index fell 0.1% to 1,689.47. The Nasdaq rose 0.3% to 3,669.95.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 45 cents to $106.56 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 14 cents to close at $106.11 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday.

Contributing: Associated Press