Europe's main stock markets were mixed at the start of trading on Tuesday following a similar showing in Asia and after Wall Street kicked off the week with losses.

London's FTSE 100 index dropped 0.3 percent to 7,896.23 points.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 index rose 0.1 percent to 8,163.11 points and Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.1 percent to 18,272.27.