The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 1.3% by mid-afternoon, with basic resources climbing 3.4% to lead gains as almost all sectors and major bourses traded in positive territory.
The positive session for the region's markets comes after European stocks struggled to gain positive momentum on Monday, and to recover from last week's volatility.
Market sentiment also improved in Asia-Pacific, where shares were higher in Tuesday trade as Hong Kong stocks led gains regionally. U.S. stock index futures jumped in early premarket trade, following a volatile session that saw the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite continue their march lower.
The war in Ukraine remains a key focus for market sentiment in Europe, with fighting raging in the east and southeast of the country.
On Monday, news emerged that more than 260 Ukrainian fighters, including some who are badly wounded, were evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant — a last stronghold for Ukrainian forces in the ruined city of Mariupol — and taken to areas under Russia's control, the Ukrainian military said.
With Finland and Sweden both announcing their bids to join the Western military alliance NATO, all eyes are on Russia and how it might react. Moscow has already expressed outrage at the idea of its old foe NATO expanding, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the expansion of NATO "is a problem." While Russia has vowed retaliatory steps, it's uncertain how it will act.
On the data front, U.K unemployment fell to its lowest since 1974 in the first quarter, official figures revealed Tuesday, but soaring inflation pushed wages downwards.
Euro zone GDP grew 0.3% in the first quarter, Eurostat figures revealed on Tuesday, as economic activity remained resilient despite the effects of the omicron Covid-19 variant and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In terms of individual share price movement, Imperial Brands climbed 7.7% after strong results and optimistic guidance.
Clariant climbed 7.5% to lead the Stoxx 600 after the Swiss chemicals company announced that its delayed full-year earnings report will be published on May 19, and that it will end a governance agreement with largest shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
At the bottom of the European blue chip index, Swedish investment company Storskogen Group dropped 15% after its first-quarter results.
