By Colin Kellaher 



  Shares of Duke Energy Corp. rose nearly 7% in premarket trading Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal reported that it received a takeover approach from NextEra Energy Inc. 


  Duke rebuffed the approach for what would be a $60 billion-plus combination of two Southern utilities, but NextEra is still interested in pursuing a deal, The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 


  Duke shares, which closed Tuesday at $82.41, were recently up 6.9% to $88.06. Shares of NextEra, which closed Tuesday at $283.12, edged down 1.5%. 


  Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com