London: European stocks ended Wednesday with strong gains after the United States and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index closed up 3.88% to 613.5 points.

According to Anadolu Agency, among major national indexes, Germany's DAX 40 climbed 5.06% to 24,080.63, and Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 2.51% to 10,608.88. Italy's FTSE MIB 30 rose 3.7% to 47,091.55, while France's CAC 40 gained 4.49% to 8,263.87. Spain's IBEX 35 also increased 3.94% to 18,132.30 points.

The euro/dollar exchange rate was up 0.66% at 1.1673 as of 1735GMT. After weeks of an escalating conflict that began with US and Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, and widened with an Iranian retaliation and attacks on several countries in the region, US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he accepted a ceasefire.

Trump said the US agreed to a two-week ceasefire on the condition that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened, adding that Washington received a 10-point proposal from Iran that could serve as a workable basis for negotiations. Iran's Supreme National Security Council, meanwhile, said Tehran had achieved its wartime objectives and that final negotiations were expected to conclude in Islamabad within no more than 15 days.

Brent crude prices fell sharply after the truce announcement, while May natural gas futures in Europe also settled lower, ending the day down 15.3% from the previous close at pound 45.1 per megawatt-hour. Uncertainty, however, continues about commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

In the evening, Iranian media reported that the passage of oil tankers through the strait had been suspended following Israeli strikes on Lebanon. A report by the semi-official Fars News Agency said the waterway, which had been expected to reopen to shipping after the temporary ceasefire, had instead been closed again.