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By 08:10 GMT, the pan-European index was up 0.3 per cent to 1,064.22 points, having earlier touched 1,065.90 points, the highest level since January 20th, Reuters reports.
Mining firms were boosted by a 1.1 per cent rise in the value of copper, with gains of between 0.5 per cent 1.5 per cent recorded by Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Eurasian Natural Resources and Xstrata.
And banks were also among the biggest gainers after the US Federal Reserve said it will keep interest rates at close to zero for the foreseeable future.
Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Banco Santander and BNP Paribas were up by as much as 0.9 per cent.
A similar rise was also seen in London, where the FTSE 100 was 0.33 per cent ahead on 5,638.85 points by 09:14 GMT, with Kingfisher and Fresnillo the two strongest performers.
Posted by Greg Secker
