(Reuters) - European shares inched lower on Tuesday as investors sifted through a mixed bag of corporate earnings and eyed latest developments on U.S.-China trade talks and Britain's progress towards some form of orderly departure from the European Union.
Germany's DAX (GDAXI) and Switzerland's SSMI (SSMI) both bucked the trend, with the latter helped by a 1% gain for drugmaker Novartis (S:NOVN) after it raised its 2019 targets and reported better-than-expected revenue.
Another Swiss company, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) supplier AMS (S:AMS) also climbed 6% as demand from smartphone makers boosted operating profit.
French specialty minerals company Imerys (PA:IMTP) slipped 6% after cutting its outlook for 2019, while Norway's Aker BP (OL:AKERBP) moved marginally lower as it slashed its full-year oil output target.
British household goods maker Reckitt Benckiser (L:RB) was moored to the bottom of the pan-European STOXX index with a 5% fall after it cut its full-year sales forecast for the second time this year.
The STOXX (STOXX) was down just over 0.1% by 0728 GMT.
Shares of UBS (S:UBSG) led gains among banking stocks (SX7P) after Switzerland's biggest bank reported a smaller than expected loss in quarterly profit.
Swedish defence firm Saab (ST:SAABb) rose 7% to top the STOXX 600 after reporting third-quarter operating earnings well ahead of market forecasts and affirming its view that operating cashflow this year would improve versus 2018.