Wall Street managed to shake off jitters about the banking sector and US stocks opened higher as the price of oil fell and a batch of companies reported stronger-than-expected earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.16% to 11261.6 thanks to robust results from companies such as Amgen.
The world's largest biotechnology company by sales reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on a surprising rebound in sales of its anemia drug, Aranesp.
Stronger-than-expected consumer confidence also helped to buoy the three main stock indexes.
Meanwhile, the FTSE100 maintained its gains, trading steadily around 5336.0, up 0.43% on the day. Banks, however, continued to struggle seeing large values of their shares wiped off.
