Major European stock markets climbed higher on Tuesday, boosted by soaring energy stocks amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine gas row.

London's FTSE 100 index closed at a fresh four-and-a-half year high of 5,671.40 points as investors snapped up top tipped stocks for the year ahead such as miner Xstrata.

The FTSE 100 closed the session up 62.7 points at 5,681.5, marking the index's highest close since July 2001.

BG and Royal Dutch Shell rallied as crude prices jumped two dollars a barrel on fears that Russia's gas row with Ukraine could hit fuel supplies.

In Paris, French shares rose as energy companies headed higher, buoyed by rising energy prices amid the gas row between Russia and Ukraine, with the CAC 40 index up 22.06 points, or 0.46 percent, at 4,776.98.

Gaz de France rose 3.14 percent as gas supplies resumed. Russia has restored supply through Ukraine to its Western European customers.

Shares in Suez rose 2.6 percent, while Air Liquide gained 2.2 percent. Leading the losers was Oreal, down 1.1 percent.

In Frankfurt, German markets posted modest gains with the DAX index up 10.70 points, or 0.2 percent, at 5,460.68.

One major gainer was Volkswagen, up 2.2 percent after the Financial Times reported it could sell its Europcar rental business to Sixt.

Another riser was Deutsche Boerse, 0.6 percent higher, on news of a 15 percent rise in German securities trading during 2005.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar went lower against the euro, ending at 1.1983 dollars to a euro from 1.1830, and the dollar also dipped against the Japanese yen, closing at one dollar to 116.38 yen from 118.00.

The greenback also dropped against the British sterling, ending at 1.7421 dollars to a pound from 1.7188.

Source: Xinhua