European stocks enjoyed their biggest one-day advance for a month on Wednesday as Wall Street put in yet another strong performance.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index rose 15.68 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 1,487.89, within two points of a 5½-year high hit earlier this month. The Xetra Dax index in Frankfurt did even better, climbing 1.6 per cent.