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London - Asian and European stocks churned higher on Wednesday on upbeat Chinese trade data, building on the previous day's solid gains that were driven by soaring oil prices.
"A sparkle returned to European trading on Tuesday with major indices buoyed by strong trade data from China and oil prices trading at fresh 2016 highs," said CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler.
"The apparent turnaround in China's economy, the rise in oil prices, as well as a more cautious Federal Reserve, have removed the major concerns that led to the beginning of the year sell-off."
In late morning deals, the resources-heavy London stock market won 1.4%, while Frankfurt and Paris both gained about 2.5% in value.
Shanghai ended 1.4% higher on the data and Hong Kong soared 3.2%, while Tokyo spiked 2.8% higher.
The share prices of energy and mining firms jumped because China is a leading global consumer of many commodities.
In London, Miner Anglo American won 6.14% to 677.90 pence and peer BHP Billiton gained 5.52% to 853.20 pence.
Energy major Royal Dutch Shell meanwhile added about one percent and BP gained 2.3%, despite a modest pullback in oil prices on Wednesday.
On the downside, British supermarket Tesco shed 5.6% after warning that profits would take a hit from its large investment in price-cutting.
"Most sectors of the FTSE 100 were in the green, led by the China and commodity-sensitive mining sector," added Lawler on Wednesday.
China said exports rocketed by 11.5% in March to $160.8bn from a year earlier. That followed a 25% slump in February and marked a first gain in nine months, underlining optimism over the world's second biggest economy.
The solid outcome beat market expectations for a 10% gain, according to economists polled by Bloomberg.
At the same time, the energy sector continued to soar on reports that Saudi Arabia and Russia have agreed to freeze output ahead of a key producers' meeting this weekend.
Higher crude prices tend to boost profits and revenues for oil firms.
Asian equities also burst higher on a wave of renewed economic confidence, which also saw the safe-haven yen retreat against the dollar having soared more than five percent since the start of the month.
Markets enjoyed healthy gains on Tuesday after Russian news agency Interfax said Moscow and Riyadh had reached "consensus" on freezing oil output, sending oil prices racing higher.
While most market-watchers say nations must actually cut production to have any lasting impact, the news raised hopes that at least a global glut - which saw prices plunge 75% from mid-2014 to February - can be addressed.
Major players from inside and outside the OPEC producers' club are due to meet in Doha Sunday to discuss the crude crisis, which has hammered some of the world's biggest energy companies and oil-exporter nations.
