European stocks traded higher on Tuesday, with oil and mining stocks driving the biggest gains.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed 0.45 percent higher with the various sectors trading mostly in positive territory. Oil stocks rose 1.69 percent and Basic Resources lifted by 1.76 percent, the latter becoming the top-performing sector on the day. This followed a fresh four-year high in Brent Crude prices.
The FTSE 100 in London was higher by 0.63 percent as the closing bell rang.
Looking at individual stocks, Next led the gains across Europe, up by more than 7.6 percent on Tuesday. The retailer reported a 0.5 percent increase in first-half profit and a decision to lift its guidance for the year.
Italian defense firm, Leonardo, saw its shares rise 2.3 percent after reaching a deal with the U.S. Air Force. The UK listed miner, Glencore, moved higher too after announcing plans to repurchase a further $1 billion of its own shares.
Investors continue to digest merger news after Comcast made the highest bid for the U.K. broadcaster Sky. The latter's stock was trading marginally higher. Earlier on Tuesday, Comcast announced that it had bought 29.1 percent of Sky shares in the market.
Oil prices continued their pattern of moving higher on Tuesday, breaking through $82 per barrel of Brent Crude as investors continued to digest a decision by producing countries not to increase global output.
Oil-producing nations came under the spotlight after President Donald Trump spoke at the United Nations in New York. Trump accused OPEC members of "ripping off" the world over their sales of oil.
He also doubled down on his trade hard line, causing a brief dip in the price of global equities.
In the United States, the Federal Open Market Committee will kick off its two-day monetary policy meeting today, with analysts expecting the central bank to announce a quarter point rate hike when it concludes its meeting on Wednesday.
By the European close, U.S. equities had slipped from session highs on Tuesday as renewed concerns about trade offset solid gains in bank shares.
The Dow Jones industrial average traded 17 points higher after briefly turning negative, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hovered around the flatline.
The U.S. feel-good factor has continued as consumer confidence rose in September to its highest level in about 18 years.
The Consumer Board's index rose to 138.4 this month from 134.7 in August. Economists polled by Reuters expected consumer confidence to dip to 132.