LONDON: Europe main stock markets jumped on Tuesday as investors welcomed news that pro-Russian rebels had handed over the black boxes from downed flight MH17, easing concerns over the disaster.
Frankfurt's main DAX index gained 1.27 percent to end at 9,734.33 points, compared to Monday's close.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed 0.99 percent higher at 6,795.34 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 ended the day up 1.50 percent at 4,369.52.
"Markets in Europe were recuperating losses from the past few sessions due to events in Ukraine and Gaza, despite a disappointing result from Credit Suisse," said Japer Lawler at CMC Markets.
"There still remains a lot of uncertainty surrounding the MH17 crash but the feeling is starting to creep in that the repercussion on markets is not going to be too long-lasting."
The downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet last Thursday in Ukraine inflamed tensions with Russia, with Western governments saying it was shot down by pro-Moscow separatists.
Those tensions eased on Tuesday on news rebels had handed the plane's two black boxes to Malaysian officials and announced a ceasefire to provide safe access for an international probe.
That helped Russian stocks to bounce back from three days of losses in which Moscow's main index lost some 8 percent and boosted the ruble against the euro and the dollar.
Wall Street was also given a kick by a stream of generally solid earnings reports that suggested the US economy, the world's largest, is continuing to pick up momentum.
"Investors continue to use the pullbacks as an opportunity to buy into the story of a US economic recovery," said Lawler.
In mid-afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.40 percent to 17,120.44.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.56 percent to 1,984.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.83 percent to 4,461.55.
Eurozone sanctions:
Meanwhile the European Union said it will produce a new wider list of Ukraine sanctions targets on Thursday, including Russian personalities and entities.
The EU had decided to accelerate the "targeted measures agreed" at a summit last week, which had set an end-July deadline, foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said.
Berenberg analyst Robert Wood noted that rising tensions around Ukraine could in the long-term start to hit more Western European economies, even as the UK released strong manufacturing survey data.
"The latest escalation of events in Ukraine could knock manufacturers' confidence further in the next few months as the Putin effect spreads beyond Eastern Europe and Germany," he added.
European earnings updates also struck a more cautious note. Shares in Credit suisse closed down 0.96 percent after the bank posted an unexpectedly big net second-quarter loss of 700 million Swiss francs due to a huge US tax evasion fine.
French advertising giant Publicis sank 4.69 percent after reporting a sharp fall in profits for the first half of the year and warned of a cautious outlook for the year.
And Eurotunnel shares closed down 0.10 percent after the company posted a loss in the first half of the year, despite reiterating its targets for this year and next.
Pound gains:
Asian equities also pushed upwards on Tuesday, helped by an easing of concern over Ukraine.
Hong Kong rallied 1.69 percent to close at 23,782.11 its highest level since December and Shanghai rose 1.02 percent.
Tokyo closed up 0.84 percent, Seoul ended 0.52 percent higher and Sydney gained just 0.06 percent.
But the upbeat sentiment weighed on the price of gold, which is often seen as a safe-haven investment in times of trouble.
In commodity deals, gold fell to $1,310.25 per ounce from $1,311.50 on Monday.
The European single currency meanwhile fell to $1.3470, down from $1.3523 late in New York on Monday.
The euro fell against the British pound, dipping to 78.97 pence from 79.19 pence
The British pound lost ground against the dollar to $1.7056 from $1.7075 on Monday.
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