Summary London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.66 percent to 6,861.28 points in afternoon deals.
LONDON (AFP) - European stocks rose Thursday as traders welcomed strong US jobs data and digested another surprise from ECB president Mario Draghi on the central bank s monetary policy.
The Paris CAC 40 added 0.81 percent to 4,480.85 points and Frankfurt s DAX 30 won 0.96 percent to stand break above 10,000 points to 10,006.37 compared with Wednesday s close.
The euro dropped to $1.3605 from $1.3659 late on Wednesday in New York, while the pound eased back from a six-year high against the dollar.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average bolted above 17,000 points for the first time in opening trade after data showed the US added a surprisingly strong 288,000 jobs in June.
In initial trading, the Dow stood at 17,031.37, up 0.32 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.31 percent to 1,980.79. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.35 percent at 4,473.43.
"The US labour market gave a boost to growth prospects for H2 as payrolls and the unemployment rate both portrayed a picture of a fast-improving economy," Alpari analyst Joshua Mahony summed up.
In Frankfurt, the ECB kept its main interest rate unchanged at 0.15 percent, and said that from January 2015 it would hold rate-setting meetings every six weeks instead of once a month.
The ECB will also start publishing "regular accounts" from the same date, central bank president Draghi told a news conference.
"In the absence of shocking monetary policy decisions, the ECB presented another surprise," ING economist Carsten Brzeski noted.
The decision was taken to reduce market pressure on the ECB for action every time its governing council meets.
"Draghi highlighted that the change did not mean the ECB would be less active, but might help market volatility due to pre-meeting speculation," remarked Berenberg Bank economist Christian Schulz.
After cutting rates last month and unveiling new liquidity measures in a bid to prevent the single currency area from slipping into deflation, the ECB downplayed expectations for another change in rates before 2017.
- Dollar gains -
Earlier in the day, Asian equities had posted mixed results after some investors booked profits before the release of the US payrolls numbers.
Tokyo stocks dipped 0.14 percent, Seoul lost 0.21 percent and Hong Kong was only marginally lower.
However, Sydney added 0.66 percent and Shanghai closed 0.19 percent higher.
The strong US jobs data also pushed the dollar higher against the pound, which hit a six-year high against the greenback this week on expectations London could raise rates soon.
In foreign exchange trade in London on Thursday, the British pound eased to $1.7126 from $1.7165 late in New York on Wednesday.
Thats down from the near six-year high of $1.7177 it hit Wednesday.
"No one is expecting the Fed s interest rate policy to shift until well into next year," said Bill Kemp, head of dealing at FEXCO.
"By contrast a rate rise is very much on the table at the Bank of England. With that continuing divergence in monetary policy, don t expect the pound s bull run against the dollar to ease substantially any time soon."
The euro firmed to 79.37 British pence on Thursday, from 79.57 pence the day before.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dipped to $1,322.50 an ounce from $1,326.50 on Wednesday.
