The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.06 per cent to 265.65. Germany's DAX Index gained 0.21 per cent and France's CAC 40 Index advanced 0.11 per cent. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index climbed 0.16 per cent to 5,854.89.
Some experts were not so optimistic.
"Global markets are taking a breather, anticipating large rebalancing outflows out of equities into fixed income, because the relative performance of equities has been very significant this quarter," Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital, said.