European shares closed higher on Wednesday after an injection of half a trillion euros into the banking sector by the European Central Bank.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares ended 2.4% higher at 853.56 points, recovering from two consecutive sessions of losses. The index is now 32% higher since a record low was hit in March.
The ECB lent banks 442.241 billion euros for one-year at a fixed rate of 1%.
Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Lloyds, Societe Generale and UBS climbed between 1.1% - 6.6%.
Miners were also higher, as metals prices rose. Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Eurasian Natural Resources, Rio Tinto and Xstrata gained 3.3% - 10.1%.
In Frankfurt, the DAX index ended at 4,836.01 points, up 128.86 or 2.74%.
In Paris, the CAC-40 index closed at 3,184.76 points, up 67.94 or 2.18%. The Swiss market index closed at 5,443.42 points, up 122.11 or 2.29 percent.
In London, the FTSE 100 closed at 4,279.98 points, up 49.96 or 1.18%.
Other markets
In Japan, the Nikkei rose 40.71 points, 0.4%, to 9,590.32.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index closed up 353.78 points, 2%, at 17,892.15.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 10.1 points, 0.3%, to end at 3,807.0. The All Ordinaries index edged 9.2 points higher, or 0.24%, to 3802.2 points.
In New Zealand, the NZX50 was down 22 points, or 0.8%, to 2740 on Wednesday.
In currency markets, the dollar was trading at 64.12 US cents, 80.49 Australian cents, 38.91 pence, 61.32 yen and 0.4548 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 60.53.
