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The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat during early morning deals, with sectors and major bourses pointing in opposite directions.
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Britain's Sage tumbled to the bottom of the index on Tuesday, slipping more than 6 percent after Barclays slashed its stock recommendation to "underweight" from "equal weight."
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Tensions are growing between Italy and the EU over Rome's 2019 budget and deficit targets.
European stocks were mixed on Tuesday, amid simmering tensions between Italy and the European Union (EU) over the former's 2019 budget.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat during early morning deals, with sectors and major bourses pointing in opposite directions.
Europe's basic resources stocks led the gains on Tuesday, up around 1.3 percent shortly after the opening bell. Antofagasta ANTO-GB , Randgold Resources RRS-GB and Glencore GLEN-GB were the top sectoral performers, all trading more than 2 percent higher.
Looking at individual stocks, German fintech company Wirecard WDI-DE surged towards the top of the European benchmark during early morning deals. The firm said Tuesday that it expects core profits to grow sixfold by the middle of the next decade on the back of a global boom in e-commerce and digital payments. Shares of Wirecard were over 3 percent higher on the news.
Meanwhile, Britain's Sage 8082-HK tumbled to the bottom of the index on Tuesday, down over 6 percent after Barclays slashed its stock recommendation to "underweight" from "equal weight."
Global growth
Over in Asia, equities slipped, following a choppy session on Wall Street. U.S. markets were little changed Monday on the back of a sharp rise in bond yields. On Tuesday, the yield on the U.S. Treasury yield reached 3.252 percent, its highest since May 2011, while the U.S. 30-year yield hit a four-year high at 3.439 percent.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund cut its global economic growth outlook for this year and the next, citing trade uncertainties including the new NAFTA agreement, Brexit and the battle of tariffs between the U.S. and China.
In geopolitical news, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on Saudi Arabia to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a critic of the Saudi regime — after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Pompeo's intervention comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Riyadh ought to prove that Khashoggi had in fact left the building at all. President Donald Trump has also said he is "concerned" about the situation.