Europe open: Stocks start higher buoyed by US-China trade news

Stocks have begun the session moving higher, adding to the prior day's gains, boosted by positive headlines around trade talks between Beijing and Washington.

"Moreover, talks between the US and China trade teams is finally underway, despite the heightened tensions between the two countries," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

"This is the one bright spot in an otherwise very strained relationship but both sides seem determined to make it work. Both sides have good reason to make this work and it seems the delay will enable Trump to highlight the success of it both this week at the Republican Convention and heading into November's election."

According to China's Ministry of Commerce, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the phase-one trade deal during the biannual review of the accord.

As of 0930 BST, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was ahead 0.35% at 372.14, alongside a 0.48% advance on the German Dax to 13,127.94, while the FTSE Mibtel was adding 0.23% to 20,159.14.

On the economic side of things, Tuesday's batch of reports was mixed.

The IFO Institute's closely-followed gauge of German business confidence rose past forecasts, rising from a reading of 90.4 for July to 92.6 in August.

But strength in the survey was centred on firms' assessment of their current situation, with Claus Vistesen at Pantheon Macroeconomics arguing that the rebound in companies' expectations was fading.

Also out of Germany, the Federal Office of Statistics revised its reading on first quarter gross domestic product growth from a fall of -10.1% quarter-on-quarter to -9.7%.