Shares in Zurich closed at a high for the year at the start of a busy week for corporate results. The SMI index finished 36.9 higher at 8,273.1, within striking distance of its best closing level of 8,412 set in July 1998.
ABB led the blue-chip pack with a rise of 4.75 Swiss francs (€3.06) or 2.5 per cent to SFr198 .
Cement group Holderbank gained SFr43 to SFr2,053 after the company said it regretted Portugal's continued refusal to allow it and its Portuguese ally Secil to buy a stake of more than 10 per cent in Cimpor.
Novartis edged SFr9 higher to SFr2,615 as it confirmed it still expected to launch its Zelmac drug in the US in the first half of next year.
Roche certificates overcame early weakness to close SFr80 higher at SFr16,630 as the market positioned itself for the first-half profits report on Thursday.
Paris pushed ahead on steady demand for selected technology-related stocks, but turnover remained thin ahead of today's public holiday in France.
Although the stock market will open today the rest of the nation takes the day off, a fact reflected in trading volumes which yesterday totalled just 16.6 million shares.
Firm features included France Telecom which gained €2.20 to €139.60 amid weekend press reports that the group's Orange arm was in the running to launch a takeover bid for Finnish telecoms group Sonera.
Elsewhere, among tech leaders Alcatel rose €1.65 to €79.80 while STMicroelectronics added €2.00 at €63.10. Bouygues improved €1.30 to €65.90. Pay TV group Canal Plus added €4.70 at €172.40.
The CAC-40 index put on 56.36 at 6,609.36 after touching a high for the session of 6,625.69.
Frankfurt was little changed with a strong run for Deutsche Telekom providing the main talking point of the session.
Telekom gained amid talk of further imminent consolidation within the European telecoms industry and as the bidding for the latest German mobile phone licences went into round 130.
The shares rose to a session high of €50.48 before closing at €49.55, up 2.5 per cent or €1.20 on the day.
At 5.30 p.m. German time the Xetra DAX index was 17.55 lower at 7,305.43.
Amsterdam finished more or less where it started with the AEX index closing up 3.07 at 687.07.
