After a four-day rally that drove the major indexes to 10-month highs, Wall Street ended with mixed results: the Dow Jones gained, but the S&P500 and the Nasdaq both registered slight losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average advanced 3.32 points, or 0.3 percent, to 9,509.28, off a session high at 9,587.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 0.56 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,025.57. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 2.92 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,017.98.

European shares hit their highest closing level in more than 10 months, boosted by banks and miners, with recent economic data and positive comments from some central banks prompting investors to grab risky assets.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 0.9 percent up at 975.19 points, the highest closing level since early October. The index is up 17 percent this year and has surged 51 percent from a record low in March.

Japan's Nikkei average jumped 3.4 percent in thin trade, boosted by hopes for a global economic recovery that sent US shares climbing, with Canon Inc and other exporters leading the benchmark higher.

The benchmark Nikkei gained 342.85 points to 10,581.05, erasing a 3.4 percent decline it posted last week. It is now within sight of its 10-month high of 10,630.38 hit on August 14.