The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 1.02 percent higher to 6,363.9 as European markets made gains on Thursday.
Madrid’s IBEX gained 0.7 percent to 14,077.8, the Dax added 0.84 percent to 7,535.97, and the Paris CAC-40 was up 1.05 percent to 5,565.97.
Steel-related shares were higher.
ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) gained 1.97 percent to €40.87, while Mittal Steel (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT) was up 4.6 percent to €48.20.
ThyssenKrupp’s gains came after it said it has won a new elevators contract in London and after ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN) raised the steel-maker’s target share price.
Meanwhile, steel products manufacturer Vallourec was the best performer on the CAC-40 as it added 4.82 percent to €191.26.
Utilities were higher.
RWE (FWB: RWE) was 1.37 percent higher to €81.73, while EDF (Euronext: EEN) gained 1.54 percent to €72.40.
In the media sector, Vivendi (Euronext: VIV) was up 2.17 to €29.70 and Lagardere (Euronext: MMB) added 4.65 percent to €60.31.
The best performance on the day on the Dax came from stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (FWB: DB1) which gained 3.33 percent to €81.07 after it said it would not buy into the London Stock Exchange.
On the negative side of the ledger, financial planner MLP (FWB: MLP) had the worst day on the Dax with a decline of 1.42 percent to €11.09.
The worst performance on the CAC-40 came from telecommunications group Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687), which dropped 8.69 percent to €6.62.
Carmakers saw declines, with Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) falling 0.75 percent to €55.70 and BMW (FWB: BMW) down 0.97 percent to €34.75.
The semiconductors sector was also lower.
Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) dropped 0.42 percent to €11.76, while STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) was 2.98 percent lower to €12.06.