Technology and telecoms shares made further progress as the Nasdaq opened firmly, boosting sentiment that was still savouring last Friday's encouraging figures on the US economy.
Among noticeable risers were Finnish telecom operator Sonera, up 8.7 per cent to €12.45, French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel, up 7.6 per cent to €36.70, and STMicroelectronics, up 5.2 per cent to €45.45.
Alcatel was also boosted by news that it was seeking a bank loan to fund its purchase of the fibre optics unit of Lucent. The tracking shares in Alcatel Optronics rose 10 per cent to €31.91.
French optical parts maker Highwave Optical jumped almost 9 per cent before falling back to close 5 per cent higher at €40.10 after a report that the company would make a profit in the year to March.
German chipmaker Infineon rose 4.2 per cent to €48.94, climbing steadily through the day after announcing the purchase of Silicon Valley chip specialist Catamaran in an all share deal worth $250 million. Catamaran would help Infineon gain a leading position in the growing market for optical networking chips.
Portugal Telecom rose 3.5 per cent to €10.94 after reporting first-quarter profits of €133 million, at the top end of expectations. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was €452.3 million, compared with expectations of €420 million to €444 million.
Letsbuyit.com, the Neuer Markt quoted online consumer buying site, rose 20 per cent to 48 cents after it said that it had arranged a new "equity credit line".
Spanish giant Repsol was the best performer on a mixed day for oil stocks ahead of the opening of the first quarter results season for the sector. The shares added 1.5 per cent to €20.90, but there were as many fallers as gainers in spite of a strong day for the oil price.
Brent Blend pushed firmly above $28 to its best level for almost two months amid continued talk of a shortage of natural gas in the US. The latest weekly energy figures from North America due overnight were eagerly awaited by sector analysts.
