European stocks higher as central banks vow to ease monetary policy

European stock markets performed in an upbeat manner on Wednesday, almost hitting all-time highs as many central bank officials vowed to keep monetary policy relaxed despite recent indications of an inflation rise.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index improved 0.3% by 0711 GMT. Germany’s DAX gained 0.4%. France’s CAC 40 added 0.3% and UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%.

U.K. retailer Marks & Spencer soared 5.5% despite reporting an 88% shrink in full-year profit. In France, food entity Danone lost 1.6% after Berenberg downgraded the stock to “sell”, citing the hard-to-fix low-growth nature of most of its categories.

Global stock markets performed lively as U.S. Federal Reserve officials reiterated a dovish monetary policy stance.  Meanwhile, European Central Bank board member Fabio Panetta said the bank should not reduce the pace of asset purchases in June.