European markets closed higher on Thursday after Holcim, Ahold posted better-than-expected results.Oil and mining stocks perfoemed well on higher commodity prices.Sentiment improved after Chinese stocks surged 4.5 percent which also helped the markets.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 1.43 percent up 66.91 points at 4756.58 while Germany's DAX gained 1.51 percent up 79.08 points to 5311.06. The CAC-40 in France was up 1.59 percent up 54.98 points at 3505.32.

Commodity shares were among best performers with Oil giant Total gained 2.5,BG Group gained 1.85 percent,BP gained 1.44 percent,Royal Dutch Shell gained 1.67 percent.Among miners, Antofagasta gained 5.3 percent.Construction stocks gained with Swiss cement maker Holcim gained 5.7 percent after posting its results which was better than market estimates.Dutch Supermarket operator Ahold gained 4 percent after it reported second-quarter profit above market estimates.Banking stocks also gained with UBS gained 4.5 percent.