U.S. stocks end mixed, France benchmark up 3%

U.S. stocks ended mixed in a tight range Tuesday as Wall Street mostly looked beyond the deadly terror attacks in Paris and got some good news on the profit front from home improvement retailer Home Depot and retail giant Walmart Stores.

The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq composite each ended fractionally higher. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%.

Stock markets elsewhere around the globe were in rally mode, as investors continue to bet that the latest terrorist strike won't have a major negative economic impact.

In a sign of market resilience, shares in Europe were up sharply Tuesday, with the broad Stoxx Europe 600 up 2.5%. The biggest gains were in France, where the CAC 40 jumped 2.8%. Elsewhere in Europe, Germany's DAX index gained 2.4%. London's FTSE 100 was up 2%.

In the U.S., major benchmarks were slightly higher from late morning to mid-afternoon, when news came of the sudden cancellation of a soccer match in Germany. Police were acting on threats of an attack during the game with the Netherlands No incident occurred; an investigation is continuing.

Terrorism�s reign of fear over markets fades

Wall Street refocused its attention on corporate earnings and economic data. Investors got a lift from earnings beats from Dow components Home Depot (HD) and Walmart (WMT), which gave the blue-chip gauge a boost and reduced some of the fears of a retail slowdown sparked last week by a big earnings miss from department store Macy's. Shares of Walmart jumped 3.7% and Home Depot were up 4.1%.

Walmart beats Q3 earnings target, shares jump

Investors were also digesting the October reading of inflation at the consumer level, which came in solid and showed stability, reducing fears of deflation.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.2% on expectations for further stimulus measures by the central bank after the economy slipped into a recession. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.2% and the Shanghai composite index lost 0.1%.

Global stocks had a muted reaction Monday to Friday's terror attacks in Paris, as investors sought solace in history that shows acts of terrorism do not have a large or lasting impact on the economy. U.S. stocks rallied as the Dow jumped 238 points to 17,483.

Adam Shell on Twitter: @adamshell.