London's benchmark FTSE 100 index meanwhile shed 0.7 percent to 7,332.09 points, playing catch up with losses elsewhere on Monday when the British market was shut for a public holiday.

At the start on Tuesday, Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.1 percent to 12,298.71 points and the Paris CAC 40 dipped 0.1 percent to 5,478.55.

Both main eurozone indices had closed down about 1.0 percent on Monday after US President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods amid apparent setbacks in trade talks between the economic superpowers.