In the eurozone on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.5 percent to close at 1,165.92.

French food group Danone was up 10.2 percent to €87.60 after hitting an all-time high of €90.55 earlier in the day.

Danone is expected to announce a first-half gain of about 6 percent in like-for-like sales, but the thing that drove its gains were rumors that PepsiCo is getting ready to mount a takeover bid for the company.

On the coattails of these rumors Dutch food company Numico gained 3.5 percent to €34.25 on rumors that if PepsiCo does buy the French company, Numico might acquire Danone’s baby food division.

In the steel sector, high prices sent shares higher, with Arcelor up 3.8 percent to €17.29, ThyssenKrupp 1.6 percent higher at €14.88, and Corus Group gained 3 percent to €0.68.

In the meantime, Greece did better than the rest of Europe as the Athens General index finished the day up 2.5 percent at 3,252.13, a 50-month high. The index has risen 4.3 percent in the first two days of the week.