04:12 PM EDT, 06/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity markets ended higher Tuesday as traders evaluated economic macro data, including a less-than-expected retail sales growth in May.

* US retail sales rose by only 0.1% in May, below a 0.3% gain expected in a survey conducted by Bloomberg, following a 0.2% decline in April. Excluding a 0.8% increase in motor vehicle sales, retail sales were down 0.1% compared with an expected 0.2% gain.

* May industrial production rose by 0.9% after a flat reading in April, well above expectations for a 0.3% gain in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

* July West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $1.10 to $81.43 per barrel, while August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $1.03 to $85.28 amid expectations for high summer demand.

* Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were up 3.5%, lifting the company's market capitalization above Microsoft's ( MSFT ) to become the largest in the world.

* Zentalis Pharmaceuticals ( ZNTL ) shares sank past 50% after the drugmaker said the US Food and Drug Administration placed a partial clinical hold on three trials for its cancer drug azenosertib.