AlQa'dah 23, 1435, September 18, 2014, SPA -- European equities advanced on Thursday, with a key index climbing to a two-week high after the U.S. Federal Reserve renewed a pledge to keep ultra-low interest rates for a considerable time, Reuters reported. However UK shares slightly underperformed as the voting got underway in Scotland's referendum on independence, keeping investors on edge ahead of the result on Friday. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.8 percent at 1,396.07 points by 1034 GMT after rising up to 1,397.01, its highest since Sept. 5. Britain's FTSE was up 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX index gained 1 percent and France's CAC 40 rose 0.6 percent. Volumes for the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 and London's FTSE 100 indexes were only 40 percent and 34 percent of their 90-day daily averages respectively after nearly a half-day's trading.