Summary In New York, US stocks opened higher on mostly solid corporate earnings.
LONDON (AFP) - European stock markets jumped on Wednesday owing to bright economic growth data from Britain and China, and upbeat remarks from the Federal Reserve, dealers said.
In afternoon trading, London s FTSE 100 rallied 1.19 percent to 6,790.33 points as data showed Britain s unemployment rate hit 6.5 percent in the three months to May -- the lowest point since late 2008.
Frankfurt s benchmark DAX 30 index won 1.49 percent to 9,864.23 points meanwhile, and the Paris CAC 40 jumped 1.39 percent to 4,365.12.
Milan stocks surged 2.52 percent, Madrid increased by 1.85 percent, and Lisbon was up 2.83 percent.
"European stock markets rose after upbeat comments on the US economy by Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen and better-than-expected GDP figures out of China," said analyst Daniel Sugarman at trading firm ETX Capital.
Late on Tuesday, US Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen indicated that interest rates could rise earlier than expected if the jobs market continues to pick up.
"Yellen kicked off her testimony to US lawmakers, keeping a generally dovish tone but stressing that considerable uncertainty over the outlook for the US economy would make it difficult to pinpoint the timing of future interest rate rises," Sugarman noted.
In New York, US stocks opened higher on mostly solid corporate earnings, the announcement of a major Apple-IBM partnership and news of a rejected takeover bid for Time Warner by 21st Century Fox.
In early trades, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43 percent to 17,133.90 points.
The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 0.51 percent to 1,983.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.67 percent at 4,445.79.
- Chinese economy picks up -
Earlier in the day, official Chinese data showed that the world s second-biggest economy expanded by more than expected in the second quarter of this year.
China s National Bureau of Statistics said the economy grew 7.5 percent in April-June, thanks largely to government stimulus measures aimed at preventing a crash landing.
The figure beat the 7.4 percent in the previous three months and exceeded the median forecast of 7.4 percent in a survey of 17 economists by AFP.
The strong number boosted mining stocks because China is a big consumer of metals.
In London, Rio Tinto shares gained 2.76 percent to 3,334 pence and Anglo American won 2.97 percent to 1,559 pence.
"More good news from China has engendered a strong bounce with miners leading the way," noted IG analyst Brenda Kelly.
Shares in the French steelmaking titan ArcelorMittal soared 2.43 percent to 11.19 euros in Paris, while Germany s heavy industry giant ThyssenKrupp gained 1.32 percent to 22.33 euros in Frankfurt.
One of the market leaders in Paris meanwhile was French power-to-rail group Alstom, boosted by a broker upgrade from Exane BNP Paribas.
Alstom s share price rallied 3.11 percent to 27.39 euros.
- Banco Espirito Santo rallies -
In Lisbon, shares in crisis-hit Banco Espirito Santo, which had shed another 14.61 percent on Tuesday to a record low of 0.38 euros, rallied with a gain of 12.89 percent to 0.43 euros in afternoon trading.
This came as Portugal Telecom threatened legal action against a holding company in the bank for a debt of 847 million euros ($1.15 billion) which was unpaid by a deadline on Tuesday. However the holding company Rioforte is expected to seek protection from creditors.
Shares in Portugal Telecom, which had fallen by 36.7 percent since the end of June, rose by 7.10 percent to 1.96 euros after agreeing new, less favourable terms on a tie-up with Brazilian group Oi in view of the unpaid debt.
Asian equities were mixed Wednesday, with investors seemingly unimpressed by the Chinese growth figures.
Shanghai stocks retreated by 0.15 percent and Tokyo dipped 0.10 percent, while Hong Kong added 0.27 percent and Sydney rose 0.14 percent.
The European single currency dipped to a one-month low at $1.3526, from $1.3570 late Tuesday in New York.
The British pound eased to $1.7134 from $1.7142 on Tuesday. The euro slipped to 78.93 pence from 79.15 pence.
In commodity deals, gold declined to $1,297.50 per ounce from $1,310 on Tuesday.
