Following the US economic recovery, leading stock markets went up on Thursday.
Frankfurt was higher in midday deals, with traders focused on Germany having finally struck a deal to form a new government.
The growth estimate for Europe was lowered in the third quarter due to surging Covid cases, which helped offset the news that Europe's biggest economy had lowered its growth estimate for the third quarter.
The major Asian indexes ended up with gains Thursday after a similar picture on Wall Street.
The US markets were closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The European indices have been slightly higher on the back of the quiet Thanksgiving Day session in global markets, particularly in the US, where usual pre-holiday buying has helped lift stocks, said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG trading group.
One day after the head of the International Energy Agency called for OPEC and its allies to take measures to bring crude prices to reasonable levels, a drop in US jobless claims to a five-decade low and a surge in consumer income and spending reinforced optimism that the United States is well on the recovery track, but added to pressure on the Federal Reserve to prevent overheating.
The reading came as minutes from the US central bank's November policy meeting showed that officials were moving towards tapering their vast bond-buying programme - known as quantitative easing - at a faster pace as they try to tame rocketing prices.
The Fed also signalled that it could raise US interest rates sooner than market expectations to keep a lid on rocketing inflation, which is fuelled in large part by high energy prices.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed Wednesday with healthy gains ahead of the Thanksgiving break.
Tokyo led gains in Asia on Thursday, while Seoul was weighed down by the South Korean central bank's decision to lift interest rates.
The euro pound was up at 84.23 pence from 84.02 pence.
Brent crude in the North Sea: UP 0.1 percent at $81.11 per barrel.
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.2 percent at $78.25 per barrel.