European stocks closed higher Tuesday as investors digested a strong set of corporate results and looked ahead to this week's European Central Bank policy meeting.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up by 1%, with the majority of sectors and major bourses in positive territory.

In earnings news, Swiss banking giant UBS beat forecasts with a net profit of $1.4 billion for the second quarter of 2019, marking its best second-quarter performance in nine years. UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti told CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche the results showed "diversification paid off again." Shares of the firm were 2.6% higher.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Santander posted a slight earnings beat, but net profit still declined 18% due to restructuring costs. The Spanish lender's stock rose 3.6%, while the broader European banking index was up nearly 2%.

Autos stocks however were the best performers, rallying almost 4%, buoyed by a sharp rise in Faurecia's share price. The French auto parts maker climbed more than 11% after it maintained first-half profitability despite a China-led decline in auto production. Fellow parts makers Hella and Valeo also jumped sharply.

Chipmaker stocks also saw a windfall on Tuesday, led by Apple supplier AMS, which saw its stock rise 8% after it beat revenues and issued optimistic guidance for the third quarter of 2019. Another tech company, Logitech, climbed nearly 5% on the back of better-than-expected first quarter earnings.

On Wall Street, stocks got a boost from solid quarterly numbers from companies like Coca-Cola and United Technologies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 50 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes were also positive.