BBC NEWS | Business | Shares pick up as optimism grows

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And the economic data too proved encouraging in the US.

Industrial production was up 0.9% in June, twice what many economists had expected, while consumer sentiment also beat forecasts.

Best of all, inflation - a key worry amid sky-high oil prices, and one reason for the US Federal Reserve's month-by-month boost to interest rates - stayed subdued, both wholesale and retail.

"The economic data that we got continues a string of very positive reports indicating sustained economic growth and low inflation," said Michael Sheldon at Spencer Clarke LLC in New York.

Good signs for the US economy tend to support stock market movements elsewhere, since the US is a key market for most industrialised countries' goods.

BBC NEWS | Business | Shares pick up as optimism grows