European shares rose for a ninth consecutive day on Thursday to an eight-month closing high.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 2% higher at 908.15 points after touching 909.07 - the highest since early November last year.
In Frankfurt, the DAX index ended at 5,247.28 points, up 125.72 or 2.45%.
In Paris - the CAC-40 index closed at 3,373.72 points, up 68.65 or 2.08%. The Swiss market index closed at 5,765.51 points, up 128.49 or 2.28%.
In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 66.07 points, or 1.47% , to 4,559.80 - its highest closing level since early January. The index has added more than 11% in the past nine sessions.
Other markets
In Tokyo on Thursday, the Nikkei rose 69.78 points, 0.72%, to 9,792.94, its highest close since 3 July.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished up 2.96% or 569.53 points at 19,817.70.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 4.4 points, 0.11%, to 4,064.1. The All Ordinaries index gained 3.7 points, or 0.09%, to 4,072.6 points.
In New Zealand, the NZX50 index closed up 2 points at 2919 on turnover of $82 million.
The dollar was trading at 66 US cents, 80.64 Australian cents, 40.04 pence, 62.14 yen and 0.4633 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 61.65.
