The index, which rose 26 percent last year, has jumped 64 percent since hitting a record low in March 2009. Trading was subdued as US markets were closed for Martin Luther King Day. Volumes on the European index were just 65 percent of its 90-day daily average volume.
Miners topped the gainers' list, with copper MCU3 up 1.7 percent in a technical rally, supported by a fall in inventory levels. Aluminium MAL3, nickel MNI3 and zinc MZN3 rose 0.2 to 1.7 percent, while platinum and palladium hit 17-month highs.
BHP Billiton (BLT.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Xstrata (XTA.L) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L) rose 1 to 3.9 percent. "The rally that we have seen has not fully run its course yet," said Klaus Wiener, head of research at Generali Investments.
"I think that the earnings season on balance should be a good one. Companies have really built up operational leverage. This, together with ongoing policy support and hence sound macro-economic data, should lead the way for corporate assets." Major US companies to report results this week included Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), IBM (IBM.N), General Electric (GE.N) and Google (GOOG.O). Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE, Germany's DAX .GDAXI and France's CAC 40 .FCHI rose 0.7 percent to 0.8 percent.