Growing hopes for a peaceful end to the Kosovo conflict, and Wall Street's stronger start, sent European bourses higher. Activity, however, was subdued in the absence of Frankfurt for the Corpus Christi holiday.

The FTSE Eurobloc 100 index, which covers leading companies in the euro-zone, closed almost 1 per cent higher at 1,050.12. The FTSE Eurotop 100, covering countries inside and outside the euro zone, put on 0.9 per cent at 2,984.27 while the broader FTSE Eurotop 300 settled 0.9 per cent better at 1,295.62.

Paris ended with 10 points of its high for the session, although trading volumes were below average. The CAC 40 index gained Utility Vivendi rose 1.10 to 74 after Merrill Lynch resumed coverage of the stock with a strong buy rating. Oils were active following the collapse of talks between US producers Texaco and Chevron. The broad theme of the day was that Texaco would soon be training its sights elsewhere in the industry. Total added 2 at 117.80 and Elf-Aquitaine 2.60 at 137.40.

Amsterdam pushed higher following solid gains for market heavyweight Royal Dutch and a dazzling run for Hoogovens. The steel leader comfortably topped the performance charts, advancing to 45 on news of merger talks with British rival, British Steel. The shares ended 5.20 or 13.7 per cent higher at 43.10 in heavy volume.

Zurich pulled ahead to close 1.3 per cent higher, Frankfurt, Lisbon, Vienna and Warsaw were closed for public holidays but volume was thin with some parts of the country observing the Corpus Christi holiday. The SMI index finished 89.4 higher at 7,060.2.

Roche was a strong performer on news that it would take over shares it did not already hold in US group Genentech, as part of a 1995 agreement, and planned subsequently to sell a 19 per cent stake.

Milan featured a 4.3 per cent rise in Olivetti to 2.95 after the company said it was to rejig financing for its takeover of Telecom Italia. The group is to raise a planned bond issue by 1.5 billion and reduce a planned 8 billion bank loan by the same amount.