Frankfurt's DAX 30 also added 0.9 percent to 11,805.93 and the Paris CAC 40 jumped 1.1 percent to 5,428.61 points from Wednesday's close.

Among individual companies and bucking the trend, shares in British software maker Micro Focus tanked after it issued a profit-warning and launched a strategic review of operations, blaming weak demand in a "deteriorating macro environment".

Micro Focus slumped 26.18 percent to stand at £11.48 at 0915 GMT.