Wall Street shares surged ahead at the open, as traders were buoyed by Janet Yellen's interest rate comments last night.
Despite the long speech in Massachusetts draining the Fed chair of energy, investors have responded in the opposite way - sending shares higher both in the US and in Europe.
Indices in the US were aided by sports shoe giant Nike (NYSE:NKE), which posted very decent figures in its latest three months.
At the time of writing, the benchmark Dow Jones was up 170 points to 16,371, the Nasdaq gained 32 to 4,765 and the S&P500 added 14 to 1,946.
In London, FTSE100 was trading up 141 points at 6,104, while in France and Germany, shares were also higher.
Market analyst at CMC said today's rally marks a shift from the usual theme of a market rise when there is monetary easing not tightening.
"Today’s strong rally on the back of a more hawkish statement from the Fed chief would appear to suggest that markets are starting to get used to the idea of a nominal move higher in US rates, interpreting it as a vote of confidence in the US economic recovery," he said.
But he added: "That perception still has some way to go before being met, given the various speed humps between now and the December meeting."
Nike shares added 8.78% to US$124.87 as earnings per share (EPS) for the three months to the end of August showed a 23% increase on the corresponding 2014 quarter's figure of US$1.09.
The median forecast among the range of estimates was for EPS of US$1.19.
Revenue rose 5% to US$8.41bn from US$7.98bn the year before, and was ahead of market forecasts of US$8.21bn.
In addition, the company's products are increasingly popular in China, where the company saw sales jump 30% year-on-year to US$886mln.
Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) rose over 1% after European health regulators conditionally approved the biotechnology company’s rare blood cancer drug, Blincyto, which is one of the world's most expensive cancer treatments.
“This is an important step in providing new treatment options for patients in Europe with rare forms of cancer," the firm said.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) was the most traded stock - as its iPhone 6s and 6s Plus phones become available around the globe to much fanfare. Shares added 0.54% to US$115.62.
Jabil Circuits (NYSE:JBL) rose over 14% as its fourth quarter earnings impressed.