European blue chips pushed higher after a six-day losing run, as Wall Street opened strongly and as investors warmed to reassuring figures from technology titans Siemens and STMicroelectronics.
But early gains in Nokia petered out after the world's biggest maker of mobile phones sullied a robust fourth quarter report with a disappointing outlook for the first quarter.
And with the war drums beating ever-louder in the backdrop, the euro rampant, and firms staying mum on future earnings prospects as analysts slash their profit forecasts, strategists said it was still difficult to make a compelling case for buying shares.
"On a six-month view it's tempting, but shorter-term you are still looking at the same problems that have been dragging the market down in recent weeks," said Rupert Thompson, global equity strategist at E*Trade.
By 1437 GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index, which closed at a three-month low on Wednesday after sliding some eight per cent in the previous six sessions, was up 1.13 per cent at 821 points.
The narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index gained 1.4 per cent to 2,291 points.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 per cent and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.8 per cent in the first ten minutes of trading.
German industrial giant Siemens leapt 5.1 per cent, buoyed by cautious optimism about prospects for the year ahead after it posted better-than-expected first quarter earnings.
Europe's biggest chip-maker STMicroelectronics rose 4.3 per cent after the Franco-Italian firm posted fourth-quarter profits that topped estimates and forecast better sales in 2003.
"They continue to consistently perform better than their competitors, and that is much appreciated by the markets," said Antoine Guerin, an analyst at Global Equities in Paris.
Shares in Nokia slipped 1.4 per cent after the Finnish titan forecast sluggish first-quarter sales and earnings, after better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.
"The fact that the first quarter is going to be tough is weighing on the share price, but investors should note that it sees earnings picking up during the rest of the year," said analyst Raj Karia at Canaccord Capital.
In a conference call, Nokia also predicted that average handset prices would trend flat in the first quarter. That was greeted with scepticism in some quarters, not least because of unfavourable currency trends, traders said.
Networks leader Ericsson was a beneficiary of some switching out of Nokia, traders said, and rose 3.4 per cent after its Finnish rival said it saw a five to 10 per cent drop in network equipment sales, which was less than some had feared.
Meanwhile, Alcatel stormed 8.4 per cent higher, as Wednesday's comments from North American peer Lucent that the market may be "closer to stability," reinforced the French telecom gear maker's own upbeat statement earlier this month.
Oil major TotalFinaElf fell 1.9 per cent, after energy analysts Wood MacKenzie identified France's largest company as the single biggest corporate loser due to a seven-week strike in Venezuela, which has paralysed supplies from the world's fifth biggest oil exporting nation.
British mortgage bank Abbey National shed 4.8 per cent after sources said investment bank UBS Warburg cut its rating on the bank to "reduce" from "hold".
Airline stocks fell sharply after Dutch carrier KLM reiterated a cautious outlook while German peer Lufthansa too warned of the difficult business environment.