European shares edged higher on Tuesday, supported by a recovery in commodity stocks after a rout in the previous session, with investors weighing mixed signals from European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers on their stance on interest rates.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.2%, hovering near its strongest levels in over two months.
Oil & gas stocks (.SXEP) climbed 3%, and were set to recoup all of the losses made on Monday, as crude prices , rose after Saudi Arabia's energy minister denied a report that suggested OPEC+ group was considering an increase in supply.
Miners (.SXPP) gained 1.4%, after dropping 1.6% on Monday due to worries about surging COVID-19 cases in China.
Meanwhile, ECB policymaker Robert Holzmann backed a third straight 0.75 percentage point rise in the deposit rate for the next rate-setting meeting in December, according to a Financial Times report.
That followed remarks from other ECB officials this week that suggested the central bank could slow its pace of rate hikes.
Among individual stocks, Enel (ENEI.MI) rose 2.5% after Italy's biggest utility said its plans asset sales worth 21 billion euros ($21.51 billion) to reduce net debt and focus its presence in six core countries.
Prosus (PRX.AS) slid 3.8% after the Dutch tech investor said it expects earnings for the six months to Sept. 20 to have dropped by at least 79.9% from the same period last year.
