European stocks opened the Tuesday trading session with a cautious tone as investors prepared for a key budget statement from the U.K. government but found solid support from corporate and economic data from Germany.

The region-wide Stoxx 600 Europe Index was little-changed at 372.21 points by 09:00 GMT, with most major benchmarks recording modestly declines in the opening hour of trading. Germany's DAX performance index, however, was trading 0.04% higher at 11.969.36 points thanks to an impressive surge for Adidas AG (ADDYY) and stronger-than-expected industrial production data.

Adidas rose more than 7.7% in early trading to change hands at €172.10 each in Frankfurt, extending their three-month gain past 20%, outpacing the 8.54% gain for Nike (NKE) - Get Report and far ahead of the 39% slide for Under Armour (UAA) - Get Report after the sportswear group boosted 2017 sales targets and vowed to maintain focus on the U.S. market after a mixed set of full year earnings.

German stocks were also supported by industrial output data which offset a worrying drop in industrial orders Tuesday that had stoked concerns of a slowdown in Europe's biggest economy. Industrial production in January increased by 2.8% from the year ago period, the Economy Ministry said, driven by a 3.7% surge in manufacturing output.

U.K. investors, however, will likely wait for Chancellor Philip Hammond's budget statement at 12:30 GMT, in order to gauge broader sentiment as the country's de-facto Finance Minister, will deliver the annual budget statement to parliament Wednesday just hours after the Upper Chamber, known as the House of Lords, altered a key government policy aim and demanded a full parliamentary vote on the outcome of any Brexit deal it presents to the European Union.

Asia stocks notched their third consecutive session gains after better-than-expected trade data from China and slow but steady improvements in the underlying Japanese economy. The region-wide MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was marked 0.1% higher as investor sentiment was boosted by improving China imports, which rose by a staggering 44.7% on a yuan-denominated basis in February amid further evidence of growing domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy.

Japan's Nikkei 225, however, couldn't shrug-off the affects of a steady yen, which traded at 113.75 against the U.S. dollar, and notched its third straight decline despite an upward revision of its fourth quarter GDP growth rate linked to better-than-expected levels of capex and business investment.

Global oil prices remained under pressure, with headwinds from both the stronger U.S. dollar and stronger-than-expected gains in commercial crude inventories in the United States. Private sector data from the American Petroleum Institute showed stocks rose 11.6 million last week, setting up expectations for Wednesday's official figures from the Energy Information Agency.

WTI futures for April delivery were marked 0.92% lower at $52.65 at 09:00 GMT while Brent contracts were priced 0.71% lower at $55.53 per barrel.

U.S. equity futures are signalling a third straight day of losses on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced to fall around 9 points at the opening bell. The S&P 500 is expected to dip 4.5 points from Tuesday's 2,368.39 point close while the Nasdaq is likely to dip 5.8 points at the start of trading.