Battered financial stocks rallied after France’s Société Générale outstripped forecasts with its second-quarter results, buoying the broader market that was given an additional fillip by the falling oil price.

The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 jumped 2.6 per cent to 1,182.31, Germany’s Xetra Dax added 2.7 per cent to 6,518.70 and France’s CAC 40 rose 2.5 per cent to 4,386.35.