Europe Gets Defensive as Markets Slide

European stocks open lower Tuesday following a weaker session on Wall Street that was marred by concerns over the failure of Senator Mitch McConnell's healthcare reform bill.

Britain's FTSE is set to slide around 0.33% at the opening bell, according to financial bookmakers IG, with similar but more modest declines anticipated for markets in Germany and France.

Overnight in Asia, the broadest measure of regional stocks, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index, eased from a two-year high while Japan's Nikkei 225 opened for its first day of trading from yesterday's holiday and promptly fell 0.6% into the close of trading.

Watch More with TheStreet:

• Leaders Are Made Not Born: Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina
• Quiz: Where Were Your Favorite Netflix Series Filmed?
• Jim Cramer Has Some Advice for Snap CEO Evan Spiegel
• Shark Tank Star Kevin O'Leary Just Revealed This One Way Entrepreneurs Are Getting Savvier
• Game of Numbers: Do You Have Any Idea How Big Game of Thrones Has Become?