Investors were meanwhile awaiting the latest interest rate decision from the European Central Bank, which is forecast to end the "quantitative easing" stimulus.

Sentiment was also buoyed by more conciliatory noises from China and the United States on trade, dealers said.

At the opening bell, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index advanced 0.2 percent to 6,894.93 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 won 0.5 percent to 10,978.68 points and the Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.4 percent to 4,926.86.

The pound meanwhile rose to $1.2656, compared with $1.2629 late on Wednesday.

Prime Minister May survived a confidence vote staged by her own party's MPs late on Wednesday.

May won the backing of 200 Conservative lawmakers, but 117 voted to oust her -- and only after she conceded she would step down before the 2022 election.

She heads to Brussels for the second time in three days on Thursday, battling to save her Brexit deal.