BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were mostly higher on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off the U.S. threat of tariffs on a range of products and looked ahead to a slew of key events this week for direction.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and EU institution leaders will be meeting today in Brussels for an annual EU-China summit that's likely to be overshadowed by their differences.
The ECB policy meeting, an EU summit on Brexit and the U.S. Federal Reserve's release of the minutes from its March meeting are all scheduled for Wednesday.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 percent at 388.74 in opening deals after declining 0.2 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX was marginally higher, while France's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 were up around 0.2 percent.
Volkswagen AG rose half a percent in Frankfurt. The company said the Volkswagen brand had delivered 542,700 vehicles worldwide in March, 7.2 percent below the record level for March 2018.
Givaudan, a Swiss manufacturer of fragrance and flavor products, edged down slightly after reporting 6.3 percent growth in Q1 sales on a like-for-like basis.
Drugmaker Novartis slumped almost 10 percent after completing the spin off its eyecare division Alcon.
Planemaker Airbus dropped 1.4 percent after the U.S. threatened to impose tariffs on selected EU goods, including large commercial aircraft and parts.
Shares of Verona Pharma advanced 1.7 percent in London. The clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on respiratory diseases announced that the European Patent Office has recently granted an additional key patent relating to its lead development candidate, ensifentrine.
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