Europe seen higher; markets look beyond Greece

European markets are seen opening higher on Tuesday as investor fears subside after the victory of anti-austerity party Syriza in a general election in Greece on Sunday.

European markets are expected to follow the trend set in Asia Tuesday, where shares hit fresh highs as investors deemed a Greek exit from the euro zone unlikely despite Syriza's victory this weekend. A modestly higher finish by U.S. stocks overnight also helped sentiment.

Euro zone leaders have made their feelings known to Syriza, a party that wants to see Greece's debt restructured, with regards to a debt haircut. Although German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble once again ruled out a debt haircut for Greece on Monday, the chairman of the euro zone group of finance ministers, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said they were ready to work with Syriza.

Elsewhere in Europe, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi appealed on Monday to euro zone finance ministers to accelerate structural reforms to allow the ECB's asset purchases program to have a lasting positive impact on economic growth, Eurosystem officials told Reuters.

In other news, ratings agency S&P cut Russia's sovereign credit rating to junk status on Monday evening, bringing it below investment grade for the first time in a decade. The ruble weakened to trade around 5 percent lower against the dollar, following the announcement which had been expected.

In business news, Aer Lingus' board is set to recommend an improved 1.36 billion euro ($1.52 billion) takeover offer from International Consolidated Airlines Group, Irish national broadcaster RTE said late Monday.

As the fall in oil prices continues to weigh on oil majors, BP said Monday it was freezing base pay across the group this year, in a bid to cut costs.

Earnings are due from Siemens, Philips, Ericsson, easyJet and Novartis on Tuesday and an initial assessment of the U.K.'s fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) is due at 09:30 a.m. GMT.