In Europe on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1 percent to 1,306.63. Despite the gain, the index was down 5.2 percent for the month, the largest monthly decline in over two years. The day’s advance came on gains in the telecommunications and steel sectors.

Banks were mixed on the day. Capitalia and Banca Intesa were both up on renewed rumors of a merger between the two Italian banks. Capitalia added 3.6 percent to €6.4650 and Intesa gained 2.2 percent to €4.5180. National Bank of Greece was also up, adding 6.4 percent to €32.24 on a positive first-quarter earnings report. Belgian bank Dexia, however, was down 1.8 percent to €19.16 when it said that it will purchase 75 percent of Denizbank in Turkey now, and will offer for the remaining 25 percent of the bank when it gets the approval of regulators.

The telecommunications sector was up after having performed badly since the beginning of the year. Telekom Austria added 0.1 percent to €17.41 after Deutsche Bank raised its rating from “hold” to “buy”. OTE (Hellenic Telecom) was up 1.8 percent to €17.30 after a positive earnings report and on positive comments from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which reiterated its “buy” recommendation. Telefonica was up 2.4 percent to €12.77. Telenor gained 2.7 percent to NKr76.75 on the announcement that it has won a contract to provide automatic meter reading for a Nordic energy company.

Elsewhere in the sector, KPN was up 2.6 percent to €8.95, while Telecom Italia added 3.2 percent to €1.9910 and France Telecom gained 4.2 percent to €17.46.

In the steel sector, Corus added 2.2 percent to €5.70. While it reported that earnings in the first quarter were down from the same period last year, they were still better than had been expected. Arcelor, meanwhile, was up 1.4 percent to €33.30 even though shareholders are still in upheaval over its plans to merge with Russian company Severstal.

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 declined by 2.2 percent to close at 1,293.39. Banks saw substantial losses, as did several other key sectors.

Automobile manufacturers were down on the day. DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, and Volkswagen each declined by 2.2 percent. Porsche’s losses were in consequence of a reiteration by Citigroup of its “sell” rating on the carmaker, its setting of a target share price of €690, and its criticism of Porsch’s recent acquisition of a stake in Volkswagen. Porsche’s shares ended the day at €754.97, while Volkswagen closed at €54.82 and DaimlerChrysler ended the session with its shares trading at €40.38. Elsewhere in the sector, BMW dropped 2.3 percent to €40.03 and Renault was down 3.1 percent to €87.75.

Utilities also took a hit on the day. Amid reports that France will attempt to retain state regulation of the price of gas and electricity after market liberalization next year in order to gain the approval of parliament for the merger of Gaz de France and Suez, Gas de France dropped 1.4 percent to €26.05 and Suez was down 3.5 percent to €29.50. In addition, Electricite de France declined by 3.7 percent to €41.31.

In the banking sector, Swiss private bank Julius Baer was down 5.3 percent to SFr105.30. National Bank of Greece did almost as badly, dropping 5.2 percent to €31.30. Commerzbank declined by 4 percent to €28.87 even though it said that rumors that it has recently suffered large derivatives losses are false. Meanwhile in Belgium, KBC lost 3.6 percent to €83.55 even though it’s quarterly report was more positive than had been expected and it received an upgrade from “add” to “buy” from West LB.

With markets in the UK and the US closed for holidays, European equities markets declined on very low volumes of trade on Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,322.45.

The decline came even though the steel sector was mostly higher amid rumors of mergers and acquisitions after Arcelor said on Friday that it will merge with Severstal of Russia. Despite investor unhappiness with the move by Arcelor, the Luxembourg-based company added 3.9 percent on the day to €32.80 as Mittal Steel said it would proceed with its attempt to take over Arcelor. Mittal was up 5 percent on the day to €26.25. Only Severstal saw a decline, with its shares down 0.7 percent to Rbs376.90.

Elsewhere in the sector, the possibility of further mergers sent shares in Corus up 2.8 percent to €5.80 and Salzgitter gained 6.3 percent to €68.62.

The oil sector also saw gains on last week’s increase in the price of crude oil. Cespa was up 1.8 percent to €52.10 and Statoil added 2.8 percent to NKr185. Norsk Hydro, with interests in both oil and metals, gained 2.3 percent to NKr176 after it bought back 561,000 shares at NKr170.66 each.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche was up 0.9 percent to SFr190.70 after it released data showing that its drug Herceptin, in conjunction with hormone therapy, will stop progression of breast cancer and give longer life to some patients with the disease.

Despite declines during the week, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed out the week up by 1.2 percent to 1,322.02 thanks to strong rallies in the last two sessions of the week.

The oil sector saw strong gains during the week. OMV added 10.7 percent to €47.05 after it abandoned a merger with electric utility Verbund. Neste Oil was up 8.7 percent to €25.78, Statoil gained 6.5 percent to NKr180, and Norsk Hydro advanced by 6.2 percent to NKr172.

Banks were mixed. Natexis Banques Populaire gained 9.2 percent to €206 as it progressed toward its merger with Ixis. Raiffeisen International, however, ended the week down by 0.5 percent to €67.40 despite the fact that it gained about 15 percent in the final half of the week.

Stock exchanges were lower on the week. Deutsche Borse lost 6.3 percent to €103.80 as it looked like it would not merge with Euronext after all. Euronext, which expressed a preference for a bid by the New York Stock Exchange, dropped 7.2 percent to €69.25.

The steel sector also saw declines during the week. Arcelor was down by 5.1 percent to €33.05 after its announcement of a takeover of Severstal in Russia was perceived as a way to defeat a hostile bid by Mittal Steel. Mittal dropped 1.6 percent on the week to €25.

With several European markets closed due to a holiday, trade was light on Thursday. However, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 managed to add 1.2 percent on the day to 1,300.26.

Among the stocks seeing gains on the day, several were helped by broker upgrades. Among those were Eiffage, the French construction group, which added 1.5 percent to €53.95 after Citigroup upgraded it from “hold” to “buy”, at least partly on a likely merger with Spanish builder Sacyr Vallehermoso, which owns 33 percent of Effiage already. Sacyr was also up on the day, by 2.5 percent to €24.05.

In the banking sector, Spain’s Banco de Sabadell gained 2.4 percent to €26.81 on an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.

Deutsche Bank upgraded ProSiebenSat.1 from “hold” to “buy”, sending the German broadcaster 5.1 percent higher to €20.00.

Other companies saw their shares gain value on bargain-hunting by investors. In the steel sector, for example, ThyssenKrupp gained 4.6 percent on the day to €26.29.

Losers on the day included stock exchanges. Euronext lost 1.6 percent to €65.90 after one of its major shareholders dropped its advocacy for a deal between it and Deutsche Borse, which dropped 2.9 percent to €97.82.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 saw gains on Tuesday after Monday’s substantial losses, with a rise of 2.4 percent to 1,302.02. The gains came as investors looked for good buys and commodity prices turned upward again.

In the oil sector, including oil companies and companies that service oilfield operations, gains were substantial. Statoil led the way among oil companies, adding 9.8 percent to NKr180. Norsk Hydro gained 8.8 percent to NKr167.50. Neste Oil was up 7.7 percent to €24.35, while OMV advanced by 7.5 percent to €42.99.

Among companies that service the oil industry, toolmaker Atlas Copco was up 11.5 percent on the day to SKr203.50. Its peer Sandvik saw a gain of 8.1 percent to SKr439.50. Italian company Saipem matched Atlas Copco’s 11.5 percent gain to close at €17.782, while Dutch company SBM Offshore, which builds oil production and storage platforms, added 6.9 percent to €81.60.

Banks with exposure to the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, which saw substantial declines earlier, were up significantly on the day. Raiffeisen was up 10.8 percent to €65.40, while Eurobank gained 7.7 percent to €22.84 and Alpha Bank advanced by 2.3 percent to €20.06.

Stock exchange Euronext was up 3.6 percent to €70 after it accepted an offer from the New York Stock Exchange, rejecting the offer from Deutsche Borse. Euronext said that it believed the NYSE offer was in the best interest of shareholders and that regulatory approval for the merger with the NYSE would go more smoothly than an attempt to merge with Deutsche Borse. The news did not hurt Deutsche Borse, which added 1.4 percent to €102.76.

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 2.7 percent to 1,271.45 as investors fled emerging markets and looked for safe places to put their money.

Banks were the big losers on the day, as were stock exchanges and the steel and oil sectors.

The price of crude oil was down, taking shares in oil companies along with it. OMV dropped 5.9 percent to €40, while Norway’s Statoil was down 3 percent to NKr164 and Total lost 2.5 percent to €49.85.

In the steel sector, Arcelor dropped 5.6 percent to €32.90 as it said it was looking at a new bid from Mittal Steel and that it has called a shareholder meeting to be held on June 21 for a vote on the bid. Mittal declined by 5.9 percent to €23.91.

Euronext lost 9.5 percent to €67.55 after the New York Stock Exchange offered a bid of $21 billion for the European stock exchange operator. Deutsche Borse, which has also been in talks with Euronext, was down 8.5 percent to €101.30 on the possibility that it might raise its bid.

The banking sector saw substantial declines on the day. Those banks with high exposure to emerging markets in Europe were down the most. Raiffeisen International dropped 9.3 percent to €60.85. Eurobank, in Greece, declined by 6.9 percent to €21.20, while Alpha Bank was down 3.3 percent to €20.02.

Investment banks also saw their shares lose value. UBS fell 4.2 percent to SFr133.40. Credit Suisse lost 3.7 percent to SFr68.15. Deutsche Bank was down 3.1 percent to €88.18.

Credit Agricole was down 3.7 percent on the day to €28.92 when it said that it was assessing Alliance & Leicester ahead of a possible bid. However, CA said that the assessment was in its first stages and did not mean that a bid would be forthcoming.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 saw a slight gain on Friday, adding 0.1 percent to 1,306.56. The gain did not help the week’s results however, which saw the 300 drop by 4.1 percent.

Much of the week’s losses could be blamed on the oil sector, where losses were substantial. Norwegian companies were hard hit, but other companies in the sector were down as well. Norsk Hydro was down 13.8 percent over the week to NKr162, hurt not only by the drop in crude oil prices but also by declines in aluminium, in which it also has interests. Statoil dropped 11.1 percent to NKr169.

Some oil and oil-related companies elsewhere in Europe saw even steeper declines. OMV, based in Austria, lost 15.3 percent to €42.41. Neste Oil declined by 13.9 percent to €23.72. Saipem, the Italian Oil services group, was down 12.3 percent to €17.36.

Stock exchanges were lower as well. Even through Euronext added 5.4 percent on the day Friday, it lost 0.4 percent on the week to close at €74.60. Deutsche Borse was also up on the day but down for the week, as it gained 3.2 percent Friday but lost 10 percent during the week to close at €110.74.

In the steel sector, Arcelor gained 8.9 percent on Friday, overcoming earlier losses to add 0.5 percent for the week, to close at €34.84 after Mittal Steel offered a revised bid that was one-third higher than its earlier offer. Mittal was down 17 percent this week to €25.41.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 had an up and down day, finally ending 0.4 percent lower at 1,305.30. In Oslo, the OSE index was down 5.7 percent to 372.34.

In the Norwegian oil sector, Statoil dropped 4.7 percent to NKr171 and Norsk Hydro lost 7.5 percent to NKr160.50, both affected by dropping crude oil prices. Statoil was also hurt by reports of cost overruns at a gas project in the Barents Sea. Other Norwegian companies also had trouble on the day, with telecommunications company Telenor dropping 4.3 percent to NKr77.25. The nation’s largest bank, DnB Nor, lost 7.2 percent to NKr77.75.

Things were a little better for oil companies listed on the Eurofirst. Total added 0.4 percent to €51.15, while Cepsa was up by 0.8 percent to €48.12. Still in oil, refiner Saras had the largest initial public offering in Italy in four years. Shares in Saras were initially priced at €6 last week, but were down to €5.29 in their first day of trade.

In the telecommunications sector, Deutsche Telekom gained 0.6 percent to €12.67, while Belgacom was also up 0.6 percent to €25.58. Both were helped out by BT Group’s quarterly report, which showed a rise in core earnings.

Steel company Arcelor was down 2.6 percent to €32 after Mittal Steel initiated a hostile takeover bid. Mittal received regulatory permission for the bid earlier this week in Belgium, France and Luexembourg. Mittal was down 2.4 percent on the day to €27.33.

In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.2 percent to 1,347.58, with the telecommunications and pharmaceuticals sectors helping out substantially. Utilities were also up.

Spanish utility Endsea released its first-quarter report, showing core profits that were up 31 percent. Growth in Europe and Latin America was credited with the improvement, sending shares in Endsea up 1 percent on the day to €26.55. Gas Natural and Eon, both interested in acquiring Endsea, were up 0.3 percent to €213.96 and 0.4 percent to €89.95 respectively.

Among pharmaceuticals companies, Sanofi-Aventis added 2.8 percent to €75.70. Roche and Novartis were each up by 2.2 percent, with Roche at SFr214.60 and Novartis at SFr69.50. The gains for Novartis came on news that tests in the United States have shown that its drug Exelon is helpful in treating dementia related to Parkinson’s disease.

It was the second day in a row for gains in the telecommunications sector. Hellenic Telecom was the biggest gain in the sector, adding 3.5 percent to €18.60. It is expected to bid for the shares of Mobi63 owned by the government of Serbia when those shares are auctioned in July. Deutsche Telekom, also likely to bid on the shares, was up 0.5 percent to €13.05. Elsewhere in fixed-line telecoms, Swisscom was up 1.3 percent to SFr405, while France Telecom rose by 1.5 percent to €17.49 on an upwardly revised revenue forecast from Bear Stearns.

Mobile telecoms also saw gains. Telnor gained 2.9 percent to NKr80.75, while Cosmote added 2.6 percent to €19.68.

In the oil sector, OMV of Austria dropped 5.7 percent to €45.13 despite a 24 percent rise in first-quarter profits when lower refining margins kept profits below levels that had been predicted.