European bourses took heart from the robust start on Wall Street and reversed early falls to close in positive territory.
The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index rose 4.85 to 1,085.51, while the FTSE Eurotop 100 index climbed 11.17 to 2,970.13. The FTSE Eurotop 300 index put on 4.72 to 1,302.68.
Frankfurt ended at the best of the session with the Xetra DAX index up 51.47 at 5,353.32. Deutsche Telekom pushed higher, helped by talk of industry consolidation. The shares gained 87 cents to €40.70.
Utility merger partners Viag and Veba moved ahead, reversing recent weakness. Viag added 76 cents at €18.16 and Veba €2.70 at €53.10.
Elsewhere in the sector, RWE eased 79 cents to €38.25 as the utility dismissed as "pure speculation" rumours that it was poised to launch a take-over bid for VEW, the German regional utility.
Retailer Karstadt lost ground on profit-taking after the recent strong run, slipping 25 cents at €45.25.
Paris gained 30.59 to 4,691.72 on the CAC-40 index as take-over rumours continued to swirl around Equant, the telecoms services group.
Equant stormed up to €86.80 before closing €4.10 ahead at €86.30. The shares have now put on more than 11 per cent in two sessions amid persistent talk that France Telecom or Deutsche Telekom were set to launch a take-over bid.
France Telecom was also firm, adding €1.65 at €86.30 on news of a possible €7 billion capital gain from its 10 per cent stake in Sprint of the US.
In Madrid, Tabacalera came off €1.03 at €17.69. Madrid was depressed by Tabacalera's losses and the general index finished 2.48 weaker at 864.95. Analysts said a merger with Seita had already been widely discounted. However, financial details were lacking and analysts needed time to revise valuations.
Elsewhere, the market was dulled by the prospect of rising euro-zone interest rates after today's European Central Bank meeting.
Banks were mixed with BSCH off 0.7 per cent to €9.65 and BBV flat at €12.68. Recent out-performer Argentaria remained firm, adding 0.1 per cent to €21.75 amid persistent murmurs of banking sector consolidation.
Amsterdam ended modestly higher in below-average volumes with the AEX index up 1.22 at 554.48.
KLM pushed ahead helped by sector switching following broker downgrades at British Airways. The stock jumped €1.18 to €26.15.
