LONDON: Europe's main stock markets rose on Thursday, following on the coat tails of a Wall Street energised by a fall in US jobless benefits claims.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies rose 0.41 percent to end the day at 6,707.88 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.27 percent to 4,803.48 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 climbed 1.11 percent to 11,100.30 points.
In foreign exchange trade, the euro hit a one month peak at $1.1420 with the dollar after the Federal Reserve said any rises in US interest rates would be slow, before easing to $1.1407.
"US equity markets opened higher and spread optimism across European stocks which reversed earlier losses and climbed higher during the afternoon's session," said Myrto Sokou, senior research analyst at Sucden Financial.
European markets had earlier traded lower as eurozone finance ministers were gathering to discuss Greece after a barrage of warnings that the country risks a damaging exit from the euro if it fails to strike a deal with creditors to free up 7.2 billion euros ($8.1 billion) in blocked bailout funds.
Cash-strapped Athens badly needs the aid to honour loan repayments to the International Monetary Fund by June 30.
- Lack of progress -
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"Hopes of Greece reaching a deal to unlock the tranche of funds during today's Eurogroup meeting are very slim," said IHS Global Insight economist Diego Iscaro.
"The lack of progress in the negotiations significantly increases the probability of Greece not making the 1.5-billion-euro IMF payment due at the end of June."
Iscaro added that "even if a technical default is not triggered yet, not paying the IMF would inevitably send shockwaves, not only in Greece, but also across the eurozone."
As negotiations between Athens, the EU, the IMF and the European Central Bank over the last tranche of Greece's massive international bailout grew increasingly acrimonious this week, officials have started openly discussing the prospect of Greece crashing out of the euro.
On Wednesday, a day ahead of the meeting of the eurozone's 19 countries, Greece's central bank warned for the first time that the country could suffer a "painful" exit from the single currency area -- and even the European Union -- if it fails to reach a deal.
The Greek ATHEX index, after falling nearly 2.5 percent in early trading, closed up 0.37 percent to 683.43 points despite the prospect of a default fast approaching.
- Speculation over weekend meeting -
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"The Eurogroup meeting today will probably conclude with no deal between Greece and its creditors," added Societe Generale analysts in a research note to clients.
"All eyes are now on the 25/26 June (EU) summit, although press reports indicate that an extraordinary gathering could take place over the weekend."
On Wall Street US stocks pushed higher as data showed modestly higher inflation and fewer jobless claims.
In midday trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood up 1.10 percent at 18,132.44 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.02 percent to 2,121.85 points, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.42 percent to 5,136.77.
Higher gasoline prices lifted the consumer price index by 0.4 percent in May, while US jobless claims dropped 12,000 to 267,000 in the week ending June 13, data showed.
In Asia on Thursday, equities headed lower after the Federal Reserve said any rises in US interest rates would be slow, while Chinese stocks tumbled on liquidity concerns.
Sydney fell 1.26 percent, Tokyo sank 1.13 percent and Hong Kong shed 0.22 percent.
Shanghai tumbled 3.67 percent on liquidity fears as several new firms prepare to list while profit-takers also moved in after a surge in the index over the past year that has seen it pile on about 140 percent.
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