Europe open: Stocks retrace previous day's losses

Stocks are retracing their losses from the previous day as investors bide their time ahead of the start of the US central bank's annual Jackson Hole symposium on Thursday.

As of 0858 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.53% or 1.98 points higher to 374.70, alongside a rise of 0.66% or 79.15 points to 12,145.66 for the German Dax and a 0.50% or 25.50 point advance in the Cac-40 to 5,113.16.

In parallel, euro/dollar was 0.29% lower at 1.1781.

"Calls for a positive European open come following positive leads from Wall Street and Asia, despite relatively low volumes, complemented by the US dollar recovering from 1-week lows overnight ahead of the beginning of the Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium on Thursday," commented Henry Croft, research analyst at Accendo Markets.

An index of consumer confidence in the Netherlands ticked higher in August, rising from 25 points to 26, according to the country's Central Bureau of Statistics.

The mean release on the economic calendar for Tuesday was the ZEW institute's index of economic confidence in Germany, which was set to be published at 1000 BST.

Later in the day, the FHFA was set to publish its US home price index for the month of June.

Fabio Cerchiai, Atlantia's chief executive, defended his company's bid for Spain's Abertis, adding that the tollroad operator's shares would continue to be listed on the Madrid exchange if his company's buyout offer went forward.

Air Berlin boss Thomas Winkelmann expected to soon have positive news regarding his negotiations with investors, Handelsblatt reported.