The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose 0.7 percent and every sector was in the black.

The Nikkei share average gained 0.4 percent to 23,262.60.

On Wednesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s policy rate is now “just below” estimates of the neutral level that neither brakes nor boosts a healthy economy, comments many took as signalling the Fed’s three-year tightening cycle is drawing to a close.

·         China’s stock markets fell on Thursday as fragile investor sentiment shattered earlier gains, and as trading volumes remained lighter than average ahead of a widely anticipated meeting between the U.S. and Chinese presidents this weekend.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was 1.4 percent lower at 2,567.44 points. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.3 percent, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 1.37percent, the consumer staples sector down 0.36 percent, the real estate index down 2.47 percent and the healthcare sub-index down 0.55 percent.