By Peter Nurse 

- European stock markets traded higher Tuesday, helped by gains in the region’s banking sector as confidence grows that the recent turbulence is over.

At 03:50 ET (07:50 GMT), the in Germany traded 0.6% higher, the in France climbed 0.7% and the in the U.K. rose 0.5%.

European banking shares rose early Tuesday, continuing to recover after last week's sharp declines in the wake of the collapse of a couple of regional U.S. banks, the state-orchestrated rescue of (SIX:) by rival UBS (SIX:) and the worries about 's (ETR:) credit worthiness.

Officials at the European Central Bank have been at pains to point out that the region is much better prepared than it was for the 2008 collapse.

“We see there’s increased concern in financial markets over the situation in the U.S. and Swiss jurisdictions,” Governing Council member Gediminas Simkus said on Monday. “But if we look at banks in the euro system, it’s a different jurisdiction, where there’s high capital buffers, high liquidity and growing profitability from rising interest rates.”

UBS stock rose over 2%, helped by CEO Ralph Hamers stating that the takeover of Credit Suisse presents a growth opportunity, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Elsewhere, Ocado (LON:) stock rose 2% after the online supermarket operation, half-owned by Marks & Spencer (LON:), recorded a modest gain in in the first quarter, even though record food inflation forced customers to cut back on purchases.

(LON:) stock fell 0.5% after the beverage company announced CEO Ivan Menezes is set to retire at the end of June, while 888 Holdings' (LON:) stock fell 1.8% after Britain's Gambling Commission handed its largest financial penalty to the William Hill betting group, which 888 acquired last year, after it failed to protect consumers and stop money laundering.

In economic news, remained healthy in March despite the recent turmoil in the banking sector, according to data released Tuesday, following on from unexpectedly rising in March.

Oil edged higher Tuesday, continuing its recent rally ahead of the release of the latest U.S. crude stockpiles data, which could provide information about the supply-demand outlook in the world’s largest consumer.

The , an industry group, will publish its inventory data later in the session, and is expected to show another build after expanding last week by just over 3 million barrels.

By 03:50 ET, futures traded 0.2% higher at $72.97 a barrel, while the contract climbed 0.1% to $77.80. 

The crude market has bounced from the 15-month lows seen earlier this month as markets feared that slowing economic growth will dent crude demand this year.

Additionally, rose 0.1% to $1,972.70/oz, while traded 0.3% higher at 1.0824.