European stocks closed higher Thursday following a choppy session where Deutsche Bank AG and Banco Santander SA shares fell under pressure fell further back into the rearview mirror

European stocks on Wednesday surged 3.1%, marking a second straight day of sharp gains after a two-session rout in the wake of the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union. Stocks had appeared to have found, at least, a short-term foundation for gains as the U.K. government had yet to formally start the negotiation process for the U.K.'s exit from the 28-member bloc, or Brexit.

Further easing measures may be in the works to deal with heightened uncertainty created by the vote, Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney said in a speech, but he stressed there are limits as to what the central bank can do.

U.S. stocks rose for a third session on Thursday on mounting expectations for more accommodative policies from global central banks following the U.K.'s vote to leave the European Union last week.

The gains were the best three-day climb for the main stock-market gauges since Feb. 17, according to Dow Jones data. All three indexes are near the levels they were trading at ahead of last week's U.K. referendum as initial jitters over Brexit subsided.

July 1 Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Friday for a fifth day as bargain hunting continued and risk appetites remained solid after U.S. and European shares gained.

Japanese stocks have erased about the half of their losses in the wake of Britain's shock vote a week ago to leave the European Union.

For the week, the Nikkei has jumped 4.9 percent, the biggest weekly gain since mid-April.

Shares of securities firm gained ground, with Nomura Holdings rising 2.8 percent and Daiwa Securities advancing 1.2 percent.

Exporters were steady, with Toyota Motor Corp gaining 1.4 percent and Nissan Motor Co adding 1.1 percent.