European stocks jump to new records on upbeat earnings

European stocks jumped in early trading on Thursday to new record highs thanks to improved risk appetite following better-than-expected Q1 earnings reports, ECB President's remarks and the US Treasury bonds drop.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.4% as of 10:58 GMT, and hit the highest level ever at 438.6 points, after closing higher by 0.2% yesterday.

The mining care sector saw the largest gains in Europe today, with a jump of more than 1.1%, thanks to the rise of most dollar-denominated metals and commodities prices.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday that the euro zone economy is still standing on the "two crutches" of monetary and fiscal stimulus and these cannot be taken away until there is a full recovery.

S&P 500 futures rose more than 0.3%, after the index closed lower by 0.4% yesterday due to profit-taking from its record high of 4,151.69 points.

The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 1.3% today to s 3-week low at 1.611%, which boosts the market's risk appetite.

Back to Europe, the Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 0.2% to its highest level since January 2008 at 3,990.5 points, France's CAC 40 rose 0.2% to its highest level since November 2000 at 6,229.6 points, and Germany's DAX index added 0.1%.

While the UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.5% and hit a 14-month high at 6,982.4 points.