Merger-and-acquisition moves on Friday supported European stock markets once more, with the action this time centered on German drugmakers and France's Alcatel.
Germany's DAX 30 index closed up 0.44 percent at 5,973, the French CAC 40 index increased 0.46 percent, to 5,218 and the UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.7 percent at 6,036.
The pan-European Dow Jones STOXX 600 index advanced 0.5 percent at 337.83, also helped by energy companies and by the retail sector recouping some of the previous day's losses.
US stocks added some support to European gains on Friday morning as they rose in the morning on a strong technology sector and weaker-than-expected housing data that soothed interest-rate concerns.
Year-to-date, the industry total for any European involvement in M&A activity is US$471.7 billion, from 2,499 deals, according to data supplied by Thomson Financial.
On the UK, which has seen much M&A activity recently, equity strategists at Morgan Stanley said they believe investors have fully made the transition back from "fear" seen in 2001 and 2002 to "greed."
Friday's M&A moves focused on German drug maker Schering, which jumped 1.6 percent to 86.30 euros in Frankfurt after peer Bayer revealed a plan to outbid rival Merck KGaA for control of the health-care products company.
Shares in Paris-listed Alcatel closed up 1.6 percent, off earlier highs, after it emerged overnight that the company's is in advanced talks with Lucent Technologies Inc. about a prospective US$33 billion merger.
Among the decliners, UK insurer Prudential dropped 4.8 percent after life assurance peer Aviva pulled out from bidding for the company. Aviva climbed 1.2 percent.
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