European shares trimmed gains after weaker-than-expected US payroll figures, but then quickly recovered to hover near four and a half year highs.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index had risen as high as 1,302.40, the best since August 2001, just before the data was released, before halving gains and then pulling back up.
By 13.40 GMT, the index was up 0.3 per cent at 1,301.02.
US employers added a smaller-than-expected 108,000 new jobs in December, but that followed a much stronger wave of hiring than previously thought in November when rebuilding after hurricanes was getting under way, a US government report said.
The December new-jobs total was well below Wall Street forecasts for 200,000 jobs. But it followed an upwardly revised 305,000 new jobs in November - the strongest hiring month since April 2004 - instead of 215,000 reported a month ago.
"The first impressions are that the headline figure looks a lot softer than expected, but if you add in the previous month's revisions it's still pointing towards a solid recovery and US growth being on a solid footing," said David Brown, chief European economist at Bear Stearns.