In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.75 percent, closing at its highest level since May 2008.
Spanish stocks were also logged nice gains – the IBEX 35 closed up 1.7 percent.
There were no big headlines out of Europe for markets to seize on, but many are crediting today's gains to Alcoa's earnings report after the closing bell yesterday, which came in above expectations and gave earnings season a good start in the United States.
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