European stocks ticked slightly higher Monday as investors digested the outcome of Germany's general election, which delivered a win for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance but signaled potential turbulence ahead. The Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.18% added 0.2% to close at 383.90. On Friday, the index ended up by 0.1% and marked a weekly advance of 0.7%.

U.S. stock-market indexes ended lower on Monday on the back of a fresh flare up in tensions between the U.S. and North Korea and a sharp decline in technology shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.24% slipped 53.50 points, or 0.2%, to 22,296.09, with Visa Inc. V, -2.41% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.55% leading losses, both down more than 1.7%.

Equity markets in Asia were lower on Tuesday, hurt by fresh threats from North Korea and weakness among key technology stocks. North Korea's foreign minister warned overnight that his country would shoot down U.S. warplanes even if they were outside the nation's airspace.