A jump in industrial, financial and mining stocks lifted European shares on Tuesday as investors bought into sectors set to benefit from a steady economic recovery, while France's Rexel rose on lifting its 2021 sales forecast.

The French electrical parts supplier's shares jumped 3.4% to the top of the STOXX 600 and said it expected same-day sales growth of between 12% and 15%, compared with its previous forecast of between 5% and 7%.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.5%, with industrials, banks and miners gaining between 0.4% and 0.7%.

Optimism around a steady economic recovery has put the European benchmark on course for its fifth straight month of gains, but it has recently struggled to break above its all-time closing high hit on June 16 on concerns of the global spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Still, travel-related stocks recovered on Tuesday after sliding to a one-month low in the previous session following reports of a potential ban on UK travellers in Germany.

London's domestically focussed FTSE 250 index was up 0.3%, while housebuilders jumped 1.1% as data on Tuesday showed British house prices jumped by the most in more than 16 years in June.