LONDON: European stock markets rose solidly for a second day running Thursday, in the wake of gains across Asia.
Indices had rebounded Wednesday on receding worries about Russian-Turkish tensions, while US gains were muted following a stream of economic data ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday Thursday.
Strong advances in London, Paris and Frankfurt marked a welcome shift from Tuesday's pullback in the wake of the shooting down of a Russian warplane by Turkey on the Syrian border.
Around 1130 GMT Thursday, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent compared with Wednesday's close.
In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index shot up 1.3 percent and the Paris the CAC 40 won 0.9 percent.
"With the US on holiday and a rate hike priced in to the market for next month, attention lies squarely on the eurozone as investors debate how effective the next round of anticipated monetary easing will be," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at stockbroker Interactive Investor.
In foreign exchange Thursday, the euro stood at $1.0608, up from a seven-month low of $1.0566 on Wednesday.
In Asia, Chinese energy firms advanced following the latest moves to reform the country's bloated state-owned enterprises.
"Asian shares advanced on Thursday, while the euro remained under pressure on growing bets that the European Central Bank will roll out more stimulus soon even as the US Federal Reserve looks set to raise interest rates," said ETX Capital trader Michael Going.
A string of positive US data -- falling jobless claims, an increase in durable goods orders and rising new home sales gaining -- helped to support the dollar.
US data Wednesday reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will lift US interest rates next month, while the European Central Bank considers further easing measures ahead of its policy meeting next month.
The greenback also rose against most emerging market units Thursday after spending most of this week on the back foot.
While the Turkish downing this week of a Russian fighter jet continues to keep traders on edge, there were hopes a full-blown crisis will be avoided, with both sides stressing a desire to avoid a military escalation in the already volatile region.
Turkey's military said it did not know the warplane it shot down on the Syrian border was Russian, adding that it was ready for "all kinds of cooperation".
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