There were also gains for bookmaking company Flutter Entertainment, which rose 2 per cent to €147.95 a day after it said it would consult shareholders on a listing in the US, and food group Kerry, which added 3.4 per cent to finish at €88.00.
The pound fell after data showed British consumer price inflation fell more than expected in January and there were also drops in underlying measures of inflation that are being closely watched by the Bank of England.A laggard was British lender Barclays, which plunged 7.9 per cent after announcing a slump in full-year profit. The FTSE 350 banking index fell 1.2 per cent.
France’s Cac 40 index rose 1.2 per cent to 7,300.86, coming within a whisker of its all-time high of 7,384.86 hit in January last year.