Global equities touched record highs on Tuesday as Washington signalled that a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz could be reached in the next few days, sending oil prices tumbling.DUBLINThe Iseq index advanced by 0.2 per cent in another light trading volume session. Bank stocks were laggards. AIB dipped by 0.8 per cent to €10.39 per share while Bank of Ireland dropped by almost 1 per cent to €18.41. PTSB fell by 0.3 per cent to €2.95, two cent below the price Bawag has agreed for the lender.Meanwhile, Ryanair advanced by another 1.7 per cent to €25.22 as investors continued to pile into travel stocks on foot of falling oil prices. Glenveagh and Cairn Homes continued to gain momentum, adding 0.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. Kingspan also jumped by more than 2.7 per cent to €83.50 per share.LONDONUK shares advanced, but a sharp slide in energy stocks put some pressure on an otherwise buoyant FTSE 100. The benchmark index advanced by a little more than 0.3 per cent while the domestic-focused FTSE 250 added almost 1 per cent. Oil majors Shell and BP sank by 2.4 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively, as Washington indicated a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is afoot. BP had risen by 1 per cent earlier in the session after revealing its strongest quarterly profits for four years, boosted by the US-Israeli war with Iran.Tracking a jump in metal prices, mining stocks surged as Fresnillo, Anglo American and Antofagasta added between 4 per cent and 7.3 per cent. Banking shares were mixed with Lloyds up 0.3 per cent, NatWest down by almost 1 per cent and HSBC down 0.5 per cent after hitting a record high earlier in the session.EUROPEEuropean shares hit an all-time high as upbeat earnings reports coupled with falling oil prices lifted sentiment. The blue-chip Stoxx 50 index added 0.9 per cent while the pan-European Stoxx 600 rose by almost 0.7 per cent.Shares in Bayer added more than 3 per cent after the German pharmaceuticals group ⁠reported an unexpected 1.9 per cent increase in quarterly operating profit. The technology sector gained 1.7 per cent, with BE Semiconductor ‌rocketing by more than 7.7 per cent after Berenberg upgraded the stock to “buy”, saying recent market weakness has created an attractive entry point for investors.Other European chip stocks, including Soitec, Aixtron, Infineon and ASML, also gained momentum.On the flip side, Lufthansa shed 8.2 per cent after the German airline warned that its operating profit could fall this year, following a more than 50 per cent decline in the second quarter due to higher fuel costs tied to the US-Iran war.NEW YORKWall Street stocks moved towards record highs as bonds rose and oil sank, fuelled by a renewed sense of optimism over the Middle East conflict and solid corporate earnings. The S&P gained 1.3 per cent, topping its June closing record. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 2 per cent as Palantir’s outlook reassured investors about artificial intelligence (AI) demand, with traders now gearing up for SpaceX and Advanced Micro Devices’s results after hours. The Dow Jones was up by 1.5 per cent. Caterpillar, seen as a bellwether for the global industrial economy, gained 12 per cent after raising its annual revenue growth forecast, benefiting from a buildout of AI data centres that has spurred demand for its power generation and construction equipment.Chip stocks were on ⁠a tear, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor index ​up around 4 per cent. Shares of top hyperscalers, though, were mixed, with Alphabet and Microsoft down slightly early on. – Additional reporting: Reuters, Bloomberg