Oil prices showed no sign of escaping their downward spiral today and signs emerged that cheap crude may have a positive impact on the European economy.
Airlines and the car industry were leading the region's shares higher today.
German airline Lufthansa rose 2.5% after it said it expects the lower price of oil to cut its fuel bill for 2015 by 13% after the cost of hedging, setting it on course for a rise in profit this year.
Automotive supplier Continental rose 2.3% as it said it expects sales growth to quicken to around 5% this year as global passenger car production rises moderately.
US crude for February was down $1.13 at $47.23 a barrel today, while the February Brent contract was down $1.31 at $48.80 a barrel. Both hit their lowest since April 2009.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs lowered their three-month price forecast for Brent to $42 a barrel from $80 and cut US crude to $41 from $70, adding it would stay near $40 for most of the first half of this year.
Fires over the weekend at refineries in Ohio and Pennsylvania also hurt demand for crude in the US.
The dollar rose by 0.3% today against a basket of currencies after falling on Friday when investors shrugged off a strong increase in US payrolls, focusing on a five-cent decline in hourly wages, the biggest in at least eight years.
Friday's reaction came as markets pushed out the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, but the stark contrast between monetary policy in the US and that of other big economies such as the euro zone and Japan kept the dollar in demand.
Meanwhile, the drop in the dollar helped gold nudge up to its highest in a month around $1,231 an ounce.
