Investing.com - European stocks opened higher on Tuesday, as market sentiment continued to improve after the weekend proved to be less catastrophic than initially anticipated.

During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.48%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.32%, while Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.35% by 03:35 a.m. ET (07:35 GMT).

Market participants had braced for additional provocations from North Korea on September 9, as the State celebrated its founding day. But Pyongyang marked the anniversary without further missile or nuclear tests.

In response to North Korea's sixth nuclear test, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously on Monday to step up sanctions on the peninsula. Its textile exports are now banned and fuel supplies to Pyongyang are capped.

It was the ninth sanctions resolution unanimously adopted by the Security Council since 2006 over North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

On the other hand, Hurricane Irma continued to hammer Florida on Monday, but it lost strength and was downgraded to a tropical storm.

About 7.3 million homes and businesses were without power in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, according to state officials and utilities on Monday.

Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) gained 0.93% and 1.04%, while Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) and Commerzbank (DE:CBKG) rallied 0.71% and 1.17%.

Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) climbed 0.53% and 0.52% respectively, while Spanish banks BBVA (MC:BBVA) and Banco Santander (MC:SAN) advanced 0.57% and 0.42%.

Lufthansa added to gains, with shares up 0.71%. The airliner announced on Monday that it will be discontinuing all flights to Qatar in October, saying "the route was found to be commercially not viable."

On the downside, RWE AG (DE:RWEG) shares slipped 0.15% even after Angola LNG, the country's sole liquefied natural gas export plant, said it entered into an agreement to sell cargoes to RWE Supply & Trading.

In London, FTSE 100 edged up 0.11%, after British lawmakers early Tuesday voted in favour of a proposed timetable for debating Brexit legislation.

Ashtead Group (LON:AHT) was one of the top performers on the index, as shares soared 5.34% after the company reported an increase in first quarter profits and revenue. The construction and industrial equipment rental company also said it expects demand to rise for its fleet after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the U.S.

Mining stocks were also higher on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) climbed 0.67% and Glencore (LON:GLEN) gained 0.74%, while BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) advanced 0.85%.

The financial secto added to gains, as HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) inched up 0.01% and Lloyds Banking (LON:LLOY) added 0.19%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Barclays (LON:BARC) climbed 0.53% and 0.75% respectively.

Whitbread (LON:WTB) was one of the wort performers on the index, plummeting 3.20% after analysts at Citigroup (NYSE:C) downgraded their rating on the stock to “sell”.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady to higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.13% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.06% uptick, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.07% gain.

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