LONDON, Sept 27: European stock markets powered ahead on Wednesday following strong gains by US and Japanese shares, with London's FTSE 100 leading the charge as heavyweight miners soared over 3.0 per cent.

The British capital's FTSE 100 index of leading shares jumped 1.00 per cent to 5,932.10 points in morning trade, Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.55 per cent to 5,993.19 points and in Paris, the CAC 40 index rose 0.43 per cent to 5,242.02.

The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares increased 0.45 per cent to 3,890.45 points.

The euro stood at 1.2694 dollars.

Wall Street's blue-chip share index enjoyed its best finish of 2006 Tuesday and neared its all-time high, as a stronger report on consumer confidence eased fears that US economic growth is stalling.

In London, mining shares raced ahead as commodity prices continued to recover from recent weakness, and following positive comments regarding the sector from US investment bank Goldman Sachs, dealers said.

The mining companies' strong cash generation raises the prospect of higher dividends or further buybacks and M and A (merger and acquisitions), which we believe should support a recovery in the shares, Goldman told clients in a research note.

In reaction, Anglo American surged 3.64 per cent to 2,220 pence. Antofagasta rocketed 3.40 per cent to 448.25 pence, Rio Tinto gained 3.08 per cent to 2,509 pence and BHP Billiton won 3.03 per cent to 918 pence.

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.81 per cent to close at 11,669.93 points on Tuesday, the best close of the year and strongest since the benchmark index's all-time closing record in January 2000 of 11,722.98.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite won 0.55 per cent to 2,261.34 points and the broad-market Standard and Poor's 500 index increased 0.75 per cent to 1,336.34.

The market shot higher after the Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rebounded to 104.5 in September from a revised 100.2 in August. That was better than the figure of 103 expected on Wall Street.

Confidence, while often difficult to measure, is seen as a harbinger of consumer spending, which accounts for some two-thirds of US economic activity.—AFP