Shares rose in Europe on Thursday, tracking gains in Asia and on Wall Street as oil prices jumped.
Moves to reopen economies shut down to help curb the coronavirus pandemic helped boost oil prices, with the U.S. benchmark jumping 9.7 per cent.
Shares rose in Paris, London and Hong Kong. Markets in Tokyo, Shanghai and Seoul were closed for holidays.
Many European countries that have seen new infections tapering off amid strict social distancing measures and nationwide lockdowns have begun relaxing some restrictions while watching to see whether numbers began to rise again. In Asia, China and South Korea were slowly resuming public events after months of containment efforts. Meanwhile, the U.S. is taking halting steps to lift some restrictions imposed amid its outbreaks, even as thousands of new cases are reported each day.
"It is hard to be a raging pessimist when lockdowns are lifting in the next few weeks," Stephen Innes of AxiCorp said in a commentary. Germany's DAX jumped 1.7 per cent to 10,643.76, while the CAC 40 in Paris surged 2 per cent to 4,465.47. Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 1.2 per cent to 5,820.09. Wall Street looked poised to extend gains, with the future for the S&P 500 up 0.8 per cent and the future for the Dow industrials adding 0.9 per cent.
Moves toward restarting economies stalled by lockdowns have raised hopes for a recovery in demand for oil, among other commodities. Crude prices plunged last month as a price war between Russia and other oil producers further roiled the market. At one point,