The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally around 0.1 percent higher Tuesday, with most major European bourses in negative territory.

The FTSE 100 index closed almost unchanged, Germany's Dax lost 0.29 percent of its aggregate value, while the French CAC-40 closed lower by 0.21 percent.

Italian equity investors were the big losers as uncertainty over the country's future government loomed. The FTSE MIB in Milan closed down by 1.67 percent.

On a stock basis, Shire finished near the top of the European benchmark, gaining almost 5 percent. Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical has struck a deal to buy the Irish drugmaker for £46 billion. The agreement ends a takeover battle that had seen Takeda make five offers for UK-listed Shire since late March.

Fellow drugmaker Lundbeck surged to the top of the European benchmark after it reported better-than-expected earnings in the first three months of 2018. The Danish company said sales of its schizophrenia and depression drugs helped offset the generic competition of its older products. Shares were more than 8 percent higher by the end of trade.

Meanwhile, Europe's travel and leisure stocks were one of the few sectoral gainers, up 0.3 percent amid earnings news. British bookmaker William Hill was a decent performer after it posted its latest figures for the first 17 weeks of the year. The firm said Roma's shock defeat of Barcelona and an uptick in U.S. March Madness college basketball betting helped drive a 12 percent rise in profits. Its shares finished up 0.61 percent on the news.



Danish hearing aid maker William Demant tumbled to the bottom of the European index after a first-quarter growth warning. It said lower demand by the U.K.'s National Health Service was a drag on overall growth over the first three months of the year. Shares of the Copenhagen-listed firm finished nearly 10 percent lower on the news.