Major stock markets outside the United States ended on Tuesday.
Better than expected quarterly profits from Goldman Sachs and news that the US investment bank has completed a long-awaited rescue of a $7 billion structured investment vehicle supported European banks, notably Barclays.
Stock markets also drew strength from remarks signalling that the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England were toning down expectations of aggressive monetary policy tightening to combat rising inflation.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed 0.5 percent higher at 1,268.90 points, wiping out the previous session's losses. The index is down 18.7 percent so far in 2008 but 5.8 percent above is mid-March year-low.