Mainland and Hong Kong stocks were mixed on Tuesday as Chinese and US officials began a second day of talks in Stockholm to resolve longstanding economic disputes and step back from an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down 37.68 points, or 0.15 percent, at 25,524 on Tuesday.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.34 percent to end at 9,145 while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.35 percent to close at 5,644.

"Most likely, people are taking some money off the table before the Hang Seng Index futures that expire tomorrow [to book gains]," said Steven Leung, executive director at broker UOB Kay Hian.

Healthcare extended their rally to lead gains, with Hong Kong-listed healthcare stocks jumping 3.8 percent and biotech companies listed in mainland A-shares advancing 3 percent.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.33 percent at 3,609 while the Shenzhen Component Index finished 0.64 percent higher at 11,289.

The combined turnover at these two indexes stood at about 1.8 trillion yuan, up from 1.74 trillion yuan on Monday.

Stocks related to drug development and steel led gains while pets and pork counter suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, increased 1.86 percent to close at 2,406.

European equities edged higher in early trades on Tuesday, lifted by gains in EssilorLuxottica amid a slew of corporate results, even as markets assessed the fallout from the newly inked trade deal between Washington and Brussels. (Reuters/Xinhua)