Technology and financial stocks led European bourses more than one per cent higher by mid session today, with Nokia firming on hopes the Finnish handset giant will give upbeat comments at its investor day.
German banks made good gains on takeover speculation after a Der Spiegel article reported the country's finance minister had urged local banks to merge to avoid being bought by foreign rivals.
By 11:40 a.m. GMT, the FTSE Eurotop 300 index of pan-European blue chips was up 1.3 percent at 929 points, while the narrower DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index gained 1.4 percent to 2,613 points in sparse trade.
Last week, the Eurotop 300 fell nearly two-and-a-half percent after a series of deadly bomb attacks in Turkey heightened global security concerns, while the strength of the euro also caused worries for European exporters.
Many investors, eyeing the first positive equity returns in three years, appeared happy to align their portfolios more closely with benchmark indexes to sit out the rest of the year.
Around Europe, London's FTSE 100 was 1.1 per cent higher while Paris's CAC-40 rose 0.8 per cent. In Zurich, the SMI was up 1.1 per cent and Frankfurt's DAX gained 1.7 per cent.
Improved markets helped insurers rebound as rising stock prices lifted the value of their large equity holdings. Dutch heavyweight Aegon rose three per cent, peer Fortis gained 2.3 per cent and Germany's Allianz was 1.9 percent higher.
Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile phones, was up 2.7 per cent ahead of a two-day investor conference being held in its US base of Dallas. A statement is expected just before 6 p.m., with investors hopeful of positive comments for handsets and mobile infrastructure markets.