Europe open: Shares higher ahead of German Ifo, UK Supreme Court ruling

European stocks were a little higher on Tuesday morning, recovering from Monday's sharp falls as investors awaited the release of the German Ifo survey and a UK Supreme Court ruling on the suspension of parliament.

At 0837 BST, the Stoxx 600 was up 0.2% at 390.74, Germany's Dax rose 0.1% to 12,358.38 and the French CAC 40 climbed 0.2% to 5,642.75. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was 0.2% higher at 7,337.51.

Following the release of disappointing eurozone and German manufacturing data in the previous session, investors were hoping for more positive news from Tuesday's Ifo survey.

The business climate index was expected to have edged up from 94.3 in August to 94.5 in September.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "European markets are looking a touch better, with some mild gains seen in early trade, but we sense investors will be searching for direction again today and confidence is not particularly high. German Ifo numbers later will be closely watched as the market really starts to focus on the weakness in Germany."

In London, the Supreme Court is set to rule on the legality of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue parliament at around 1030 BST.

Wilson said: "Whilst there is significant headline risk from this event, it’s hard to see how it materially alters matters vis-a-vis getting a deal or not. However, the market and the algos will likely see a ruling against the government as sterling-positive, and one in its favour as sterling-negative. Any rally or drop is likely to be faded."

Among individual stocks, Umicore was the top riser on the Stoxx 600 after the Belgian firm signed a deal to sell 125,000 tons of nickel-manganese-cobalt cathode materials to South Korean electric vehicle battery maker LG Chem.

German biotechnology outfit Evotec was also on the rise after it formed a drug discovery collaboration with Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Company.

Close Brothers was among the major fallers as it reported a drop in interim profits and announced the departure of chief executive Preben Prebensen.