(Reuters) -European shares nudged higher on Tuesday, driven by automobile stocks, as sentiment improved after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled a readiness to negotiate tariffs with the European Union.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index gained 0.2% to 547.74 points, as of 0711 GMT. Other regional indexes also traded higher.

On Monday, the European Union accused the U.S. of resisting efforts to strike a trade deal and warned of countermeasures if no agreement is reached.

Trump, meanwhile, said he was open to talks with the EU and other trading partners, adding that EU officials would be coming to the U.S. for trade negotiations.

Trump had escalated trade tensions over the weekend, threatening a 30% tariff on most EU imports from August 1.

In the market, auto stocks rose 0.9%, technology stocks advanced 0.8%, while telecoms shares fell 0.8%.

Orsted rose 5.5% after Morgan Stanley raised the Danish offshore wind developer to "Overweight" from "Equal Weight".

On the data front, euro zone industrial production data for May and Germany's ZEW Economic Sentiment for July are due on Tuesday.

In the U.S., earnings season is also set to begin on Tuesday, with second-quarter reports from major banks, while investors also await U.S. consumer price data for June due later in the day.