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London - European stock markets advanced at the start of trading on Tuesday as dealers eyed a record-breaking session on Wall Street and upcoming data, and set aside losses in Asia.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.35% to 6 599.85 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 0.22% to 9 887.24 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.24% to 4 264.54 compared with Monday's close.
All three European indices had risen strongly on Monday, in another "Santa Claus rally" day for global equity markets cheered by last week's US Federal Reserve meeting.
Asian markets however dipped on Tuesday in thin trade despite a positive lead from Wall Street where indices reached fresh records ahead of the release of key data.
New York's Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 stock indices vaulted to fresh records.
"Yesterday's gains on Wall Street have given the FTSE-100 something of a lift in early trade," said analyst Tony Cross at trading firm Trustnet Direct.
US stocks have been boosted ever since the Fed kept interest rates low last Wednesday and left in place market expectations that it may raise interest rates only in the middle of 2015 and not sooner.
Trading is widely expected to be thin this week, with many investors away for an extended festive break for Christmas and New Year holidays.
The Frankfurt stock market closes for Christmas at the end of trading on Tuesday, while London and Paris will shut down at lunchtime on Wednesday.
Investors are meanwhile looking to the release on Tuesday of US economic reports, including the third estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product and durable goods orders for November.
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal expect the agency to say the US economy grew at a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.3% in the July-September quarter, up from its previous estimate of 3.9%.
