Another solid start on Wall Street and a renewed whiff of bid speculation sent leading bourses ahead in the face of further euro uncertainty.
The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index added 1.1 per cent at 1,068.34. The FTSE Eurotop 100 index improved 1 per cent to 3,037.17 while the FTSE Eurotop 300 index added 0.8 per cent at 1,316.61.
Frankfurt stayed firm, rising 88.73 to 5,212.86 on the Xetra Dax index and extending its rally to more than 200 points in four sessions.
Deutsche Telekom, rarely far from the rumour-mill following its failure to merge with Telecom Italia, shot ahead on a UK press story that the German giant was set to bid for UK telecoms group, Energis.
Telekom denied the speculation but the shares still ended a busy day €1.02 ahead at €40.02 after a high of €40.42. Elsewhere in the sector, Mannersmann rose €5.30 to €140.80.
Karstadt surged ahead of today's annual news conference. The stock jumped €30.20 to €427.90 on hopes that the retailer will unveil an upbeat trading statement plus news of progress in the planned acquisition of the Quelle mail order group.
Pharmaceuticals group Schering rose €4.21 to €106.51 on plans to market a birth control pill in the newly opened market of Japan. Utility RWE tumbled on news it was losing its chief financial officer, Clemens Boersing, slipping €2 to €41.
Paris posted a solid gain as a handful of stocks rose sharply. The CAC-40 ended just off its intra-day peak at 4,404.24, up 59.99 or 1.4 per cent.
Canal Plus, the media company, surged €18.10 or 6.9 per cent to €280.10 on news that Vivendi, its parent, was to merge with Pathe and take Pathe's stake in British Sky Broadcasting. The link increased speculation that Canal Plus would link with BSkyB.
Imetal, the minerals group, climbed €8.90 or 7.7 per cent to €124 after it said it had mandated Credit Suisse First Boston and Roths child to carry out a strategic review of Copperweld, its metals processing business.
Valeo, a maker of car parts, powered €4.25 or 5.8 per cent to €77.55 after a newspaper report that it was looking for equity links with Japanese automotive component manufacturers.
Amsterdam traded narrowly to close €1.95 ahead at €568.48 on the AEX index with a 3.6 per cent advance for Philips countering a fresh dose of political uncertainty following another ministerial resignation.
Philips, taking its cue from strong US techs, rose €3.05 to €88.40. Software group Baan jumped to a fresh high for the year on vague take-over rumours, adding €1.30 at €14.75 in heavy volume with 21.2 million shares traded.
Elsevier fell steeply following a profits warning. The shares tumbled 35 cents or 2.8 per cent to €12 after the media leader blamed tough trading in the US for a likely decline earnings this year.
