European stock markets climbed on Thursday as better-than-expected US weekly jobless claims data outweighed fears over the worsening situation in Iraq.
The British FTSE 100 index gained 0.47 percent to 4,489.7 points, the German DAX 30 climbed 0.31 percent to 4,013.53 points and the French CAC 40 edged up 0.15 percent to 3,740.11 points.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares advanced 0.25 percent to 2,858.92 points.
The euro stood at US$1.2072.
Trading was marked by position-squaring ahead of the long Easter holiday weekend. Investors were lifted by news overnight that first-quarter net profit and sales at Internet giant Yahoo Inc had more than doubled.
On Wall Street, by London close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated from an opening rally, drifting back 2.20 points to 10,478.10, while the NASDAQ composite index was off highs but still up 7.85 points to 2,058.09 helped by the positive Yahoo results and strong earnings on Thursday from diversified giant General Electric.
GE's robust performance gave a boost to Rolls-Royce shares, with the British aerospace engineer rising nearly 5 percent in value to 231.25 pence, topping the FTSE 100 leaders board.
Rolls-Royce shares extended Wednesday's strong gains which followed news that Boeing had selected both the British firm and GE to provide the engines for its new mid-sized 7E7 commercial jet.
Britain's leading supermarket chain Tesco jumped 3.98 percent to 251 pence after positive broker comment.
In Frankfurt, semi-conductor maker Infineon led advancing technology issues, adding 1.93 percent at 12.64 euros, as sector followers digested strong earnings news from Yahoo, Genentech and Dell.
In Paris, retailer Carrefour lost 2.95 percent at 39.09 after disappointing first-quarter sales which showed a weaker-than-expected performance from French hypermarkets.
Among second-line stocks, Eurotunnel sank 13.33 percent to 0.52 euros after its shareholders voted on Wednesday to oust the board of the troubled, debt-ridden operator of the Channel rail tunnel and put in place a new management team.
Analysts have warned that the new team faces some of the same problems.
And analysts at Fitch warned that the new management would find a "plane-load" of financing documentation, which conditions the Franco-British company into remunerating its debt-holders first and equity last.
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