In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed 0.7 percent higher at 1,189.21.

Gains in the oil sector did a great deal to help, as did the news that French utility Suez was poised to purchase all the stock of Electrabel, the Belgian electricity supplier, that id does not already own.

Shares in Suez were up 7 percent to €23.54, while Electrabel gained 6.7 percent on the news, to €415.70.

In the oil sector, OMV was up 3.6 percent to €40, Neste Oil gained 3.4 percent to €23.90, and Total rose 1.3 percent to €211.40.

The financial sector was mixed. Swiss bank UBS lost 1.4 percent to SFr104.40 on net profits that were somewhat below predictions. Swiss reinsurer Converium was down 0.4 percent to Sfr11.95 after releasing a second quarter report which showed that while net profits were up, its underwriting division had suffered a loss.

Deutsche Borse, which operates the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, was up 2.8 percent to €73.72 on record profits in the second quarter. As a result, year-long earnings estimates were raised.

Meanwhile, in the pharmaceuticals sector, Irish drug maker Elan gained 19.7 percent on the day to €7.30 after the release of a study that showed no new cases of the brain disease that caused it to have to remove its multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri from the market in February. That withdrawal caused Elan’s shares to fall by 90 percent.