Frankfurt, back in action after a four-day weekend, reversed early losses to close with the Xetra DAX index up 122.56 at 7,280.51.
Chemicals and financials provided most of the upside drive, although the rally for the Nasdaq helped lift selected technology heavyweights. Chemicals and financials, both interest-sensitive sectors, brushed off confident predictions of further tightening when the European Central Bank monetary committee meets tomorrow.
Bayer rose €1.33 to €43.88 and BASF put on €1.74 at €47.75. Among financials, Deutsche Bank added €1.10 at €74.30 and HypoVereinsbank €1.73 at €66.72. Insurance giant Munich Re gained €17.50 at €317.50.
Paris rose 85.78 to 6,320.29 on the CAC 40 index following a strong run for several old economy stocks.
Saint Gobain, Danone and Lafarge were among the faster basic economy shares along with Renault which surged in heavy volume on news of its trucks alliance with Sweden's Volvo.
Renault ended €2.78 better at €49, its best of the session. In Stockholm, Volvo B shares gained 13 Swedish kronor (€1.59) 6.4 per cent to 217 Swedish kronor (€26.25).
Amsterdam ended little changed with falls of more than 1 per cent for Akzo Nobel and KLM countered gains at Unilever and Royal Dutch.
Akzo, which unveiled first-quarter results, shed 65 cents at €45.57 while KLM came off 30 cents at €19.50. Gainers were led by Unilever, up 1.50 at €52.70, and Royal Dutch, which rose €1.09 to €60.69. The AEX index ended 1.34 better at 659.31.
Milan gained ground, still underpinned by a strong performance in banking stocks which were boosted last week by upbeat comments from analysts. The Mibtel index picked up from an early 30,136 to close 311 higher on the day at 30,835.
