Dollar, stocks firm as 2017 trading starts in earnest

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Upbeat data from China helped lift global markets as 2017 trading started in earnest on Tuesday, with the dollar notching its biggest gain in three weeks, oil on a tear and European stocks setting a one-year high. Base metal prices and bond yields also advanced, as the better-than-expected factory growth in China dovetailed with higher inflation data in Europe to give investors a solid start to the new year. Much of Europe had been open on Monday but it was the f