European equities gained for a fifth straight session and hit a new 11-month peak on Thursday, led by technology and media stocks, with investors awaiting the Bank of England's decision on interest rates later in the day.
At 0822 GMT the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 991.49 points after hitting 993.85, the highest since October last year.
The index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, is up 19 percent this year and has jumped 54 percent since falling to a record low in March.
Technology shares were the top gainers, with ASML leading the advance. The world's top maker of semiconductor lithography machines, jumped 7.5 percent after it increased its sales outlook, thanks to improving operations in some chip markets.
Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent, Infineon and Logitech and ARM Holdings were up 0.9-2.9 percent.
"The markets go from strength to strength. As we reach highs the herd mentality of investors may well see the markets move further north," said John Murphy, analyst at ODL Securities.
"However, one needs to recognise that markets never move in straight lines and we are approaching October, historically the month for crashes," he added.
Media shares were also in demand, with ITV, SES, Daily Mail and General Trust, BSkyB and WPP rising 2 to 5.9 percent.
Investors awaited the Bank of England's rate decision. Analysts expect the central bank to keep interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent and to make no change to its asset purchase programme to support the economy.
Financial shares were broadly higher. Barclays, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale and Commerzbank rose between 0.3 and 6.2 percent.
OILS UP, RETAILERS SLIP
Energy shares extended gains as crude oil prices rose 1.4 percent on a soft dollar and soothing comments from OPEC. BG Group, Tullow Oil, Repsol and StatoilHydro added 0.1-1.1 percent.
But retailers lost ground. Europe's third-largest electricals retailer Kesa Electricals posted a 3.9 percent fall in first-quarter underlying sales but said sales were improving in Britain. Its shares fell 3.8 percent.
Britain's Wm Morrison Supermarkets lost 1.8 percent after it forecast that second-half growth would slow as food price inflation eases. However, it met forecasts with a 22 percent rise in first-half profit.
Home Retail, DSG International, Kingfisher and Next fell 2.4-5.4 percent.
The VDAX-NEW volatility index, a measure of investor risk appetite, was down 0.5 percent. The lower the volatility index, which is based on sell and buy options on Frankfurt's top-30 stocks, the higher is investors' appetite for risky assets, such as cyclical stocks.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Erkki Liikanen also reinforced market sentiment that the world economy is improving, saying the euro zone economy had bottomed out.
