S&P 500 rises after strong retail data, Home Depot leads Dow higher; European markets close higher with earnings and data in focus; Vodafone up 4% 
U.S. stocks gained on Tuesday after a strong October retail sales report and better-than-expected third-quarter results from Home Depot and Walmart signaled the U.S. consumer is still ramping up spending even in the face of rising prices. 
The Dow Jones Industrial average added 54.77 points, or 0.15%, to 36,142.22. The S&P 500 gained 0.39% to 4,700.90, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.76% to 15,973.86. The major averages have been stuck in a rut in recent days after touching records earlier this month. 
The latest retail sales figures for October showed consumers were increasing their spending, with sales jumping 1.7%. That compares to a 0.8% increase in the prior month. The report showed broad strength in a number of categories from autos to sporting goods. Online sales were up 10.2% from a year ago. The gains came even as consumer prices surged 6.2% year-over-year last month, inflation not seen since the 1990s. 
Home Depot was the biggest gainer in the Dow by far on Tuesday, jumping 5.7% after results topped estimates and net sales jumped 9.8% last quarter. The home improvement retailer also said fiscal fourth-quarter sales were already tracking higher than last quarter, pointing to a possible strong year-end finish. 
In another sign of consumer strength, Walmart reported third-quarter per-share earnings and revenue well above estimates, and U.S. same-store sales jumped 9.2%, excluding fuel. The stock pulled back 2.5% and was a major decliner in the Dow. 
EV start-up Lucid’s shares soared 23.7% after executives told investors that reservations for its first vehicles are up and 2022 production plans are still on track. That pushed its market cap to about $89 billion, past that of Ford. That’s still far below Tesla’s, which hit $1 trillion this year. 

The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.24% by the close, with oil and gas stocks gaining 1.1% while construction and material stocks dropped 0.5%. 
Euro zone third-quarter GDP grew 2.2%, in line with expectations, Eurostat confirmed on Tuesday. Economic growth in the three months to the end of September was up 3.7% from the same period last year. 
In terms of individual share price movement in Europe, Vodafone shares gained 4.8% after its earnings report. 
Source: CNBC, Investing.com