Endesa and Iberdrola jumped after calling off their merger plans late Monday, helping lift Madrid's IBEX 35 benchmark index 0.9 percent to 9,934.8. Spain's Endesa rose 2.8 percent and Iberdrola powered up more than 11 percent after they said tough conditions imposed by Spain's government made the 13.5 billion merger impossible.
Analysts expect new bidders to step forward.
In Amsterdam, the AEX index added 0.3 percent while the SMI in Zurich inched up 0.2 percent and the MIB 30 in Milan dipped 0.2 percent. The HEX General in Helsinki rose 2.9 percent as cell phone maker Nokia jumped 4.5 percent. In the currency market, the euro fell against the dollar to 92.88 U.S. cents from 93.82 cents in late New York trade Monday. European tech shares got a boost from the rise on the U.S. Nasdaq composite index, which was up 2.2 percent in midday trade. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average was 0.5 percent higher.