Shares in Europe rose slightly early Tuesday, tracking mixed global cues, even as individual stocks remained in focus.
At 1.00 p.m. (I.S.T.), Britain's FTSE, France's CAC and Germany's DAX rose 0.1% each.
French banks rose broadly after a broker upgrade: BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale climbed 0.7% each.
Automakers were also mostly higher following a positive auto sales report with BMW, Peugeot Citroen and Daimler rising 0.8% to 1%.
Miners also gained after Kazakhmys announced its quarterly results in London: BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata advanced between 0.4% and 0.6%.