European markets rose firmly higher Tuesday as bank stocks surged on increased speculation of a March rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve and industrial stocks gained on bets that President Donald Trump will find support for his $1 trillion in infrastructure spending plans.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Bank index was marked 1.74% higher at 172.38 points by 09:00 GMT, helped by a solid 3.9% gain for Deutsche Bank AG (DB) - Get Report and a 2.9% rise for Credit Suisse (CS) - Get Report . In Britain, Barclaysplc (BCS) - Get Report gained 1.3% while taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - Get Report advanced 2.2%.

The gains helped lifted benchmarks around the region, with Germany's DAX performance index rising more than 1.15% in the opening hour of trading and the CAC-40 in Paris rising 1.05%. Britain's FTSE 100 was marked 0.52% higher.

The dollar rose firmly against a basket of six global currencies to trade 0.3% higher at 101.53, buoyed more by a series of remark from Fed officials, including New York Fed President William Dudley, who said the case for a rate hike later this month was "a lot more compelling". Fed Funds futures prices are now anticipating a 35.4% probability of a March rate hike, up from 31% in the previous session.

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight, with the surging U.S. dollar supporting gains for the Nikkei 225, which rose 1.44% to close at 19,393.54 points. Markets in South Korea were closed for the country's Independence Movement Day celebrations while Australia's S&P/ASX ended the session 0.1% lower at 5,704.80 points. The region-wide MSCIAsia ex-Japan Index was marked 0.19% lower at 06:45 GMT.

The dollar rose firmly against a basket of six global currencies to trade 0.2% higher at 101.49 as London markets began to open, buoyed more by a series of remark from Fed officials, including William Dudley, who said the case for a rate hike later this month was "compelling". Fed Funds futures prices are now anticipating a 78% probability of a March rate hike, up from 31% in the previous session.

Oil prices, by contrast, dipped modestly as the dollar advanced and traders priced-in the 2.5 million barrel increase for U.S. crude stocks reported Tuesday by the American Petroleum Institute. WTI future for April delivery were marked 0.2% lower at $53.87 per barrel by 09:00 while Brent contracts for May were seen 8 cents lower at $56.45.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average's remarkable record-breaking streak flamed out on Tuesday as Wall Street grew impatient ahead of Donald Trump's congressional address.

The Dow fell 0.12%, putting an end to a stretch that had seen 12 sessions of consecutive all-time closing highs. The blue-chip index hadn't seen a streak that long since 1987. The S&P 500 declined 0.25% on Tuesday and the Nasdaq slid 0.62%.

Early indications from U.S. futures prices suggest a rebound for stocks at the open, with the Dow poised to gain around 87 points, the S&P 500 11 points and the Nasdaq 26.5 points.