European stocks rose early on Thursday, tracking a rally on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve gave an upbeat assessment of the economy and said it would take a patient approach towards raising interest rates.
At 0804 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.4 per cent at 1,335.46 points.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen told a news conference that “patient’’ meant the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee was unlikely to hike rates for ‘at least a couple of meetings’’, meaning April of next year at the earliest.