London's FTSE 100 index climbed 0.45 percent to 6,029.93 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 advanced 0.49 percent to 7,467.82 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.58 percent to stand at 3,981.79.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to announce its second interest rate increase since April on Thursday, probably to 1.50 percent, owing to dogged eurozone inflation currently running at 2.7 percent, analysts said.

In London, the Bank of England is on Thursday set to keep its key interest rate at a record-low level of 0.50 percent and maintain the status quo into next year due to Britain's flagging recovery, according to economists.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011