By Ben St. Clair 

Global markets mostly gained Tuesday as concerns over the Turkish lira appeared to ease, though weak economic data weighed down Chinese and Hong Kong stocks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.6% in early trading with gains from the food-and-beverage and chemicals sectors leading the index higher.

Japan's Nikkei rose 2.3%, more than retracing Monday's losses, and South Korea's Kospi was up 0.5%.

Chinese markets were an exception to the generally buoyant mood after data showed fixed-asset investment in China's nonrural areas slowed to a near two-decade low in the January to July period. Retail sales and value added industrial output also fell below expectations.

The Shanghai Composite Index was 0.2% lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.8%.

But China's infrastructure investment is expected to stabilize and pick up in the second half of the year, said a spokesperson with the country's statistics bureau on Tuesday. Chinese leaders have vowed to speed up investment approvals.

In currencies, the Turkish lira rose 5.5% to 6.5195 against the dollar after selling Monday that saw the embattled Turkish currency fall as much as 10%. On Monday the country's central bank introduced measures to boost liquidity in the market, but investors remain concerned that the bank isn't independent from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has blamed the U.S. and social media for the country's economic troubles.

The WSJ Dollar Index was down 0.2%. The index measures the U.S. currency against a basket of 16 others.

Elsewhere, yields on 10-year U.S. Treasurys rose to 2.896% from 2.877% Monday. Yields move inversely to prices.

In commodities Brent crude, the global benchmark rose 0.6% to $73.09 a barrel, and gold was up 0.2% to $1,201.90 an ounce.

Write to Ben St. Clair at ben.stclair@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 14, 2018 03:56 ET (07:56 GMT)