Wall Street advances; ECB cash injection boosts European shares

Strong US consumer confidence helped stocks advance on Tuesday and the S&P 500 to pierce the key 1,370 point level.

The Dow Jones industrial average was was up 16.12 points, or 0.12 percent, at 12,997.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 1.99 points, or 0.15 percent, at 1,369.58. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 11.93 points, or 0.40 percent, at 2,978.09.

European shares edged up as investors braced for the next round of the European Central Bank's (ECB) injection of cheap cash for banks, a major factor in driving the market's rally in 2012.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.2 percent to close at 1,076.12 points and is up 7.5 percent in 2012.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average hit a fresh seven-month closing high on Tuesday as investors reassessed the impact of Elpida Memory Inc's bankruptcy protection filing on the chip sector and bought back some of the stocks they sold earlier in the day.

The Nikkei closed 0.9 percent higher at 9,722.52 after trading as low as 9,528.77 in the morning session, while the broader Topix was up 0.4 percent at 838.48.