Europe: Equities rise at open, London nears record

[LONDON] Europe's major stock markets advanced in opening deals on Thursday, with London approaching an all-time peak amid a broad global rally.

The British capital's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip companies gained 0.3 per cent to 7,696.62 points compared with the close on Wednesday.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 added 0.5 per cent to 5,360.01 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 won 0.7 per cent to 13,065.98 points.

Tokyo led another strong rally across Asian markets as soaring oil prices helped energy firms post bumper gains, following more records in Wall Street action on Wednesday.

AFP