The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.3 percent over the week to close at 1,542.21 on Friday, very close to a six-year high it touched on Tuesday.
The energy sector was mixed as the Endsea saga continued to play out. Endsea recommended that its shareholders vote to accept the €41 billion bid it received from Germany’s Eon after Gas Natural pulled out of the bidding. Endsea dropped 2.6 percent during the week, to €38.01, while Eon added 0.7 percent to €110.05. Gas Natural gained 7.6 percent over the week to €33.20. In related news construction group Acciona, which owns 21 percent of Endsea, was 4.6 percent higher to €162.15. Acciona said that it would sell its shares to Eon if its takeover of Endsea is successful.
The European semiconductors sector was higher after Infineon landed two big contracts. It was revealed Wednesday that it will provide chips for low-cost mobile phones made by Nokia, while it was announced Friday that Infineon will make chips for Mastercard’s new contact-free cards. While no additional details about the deals were revealed, one broker estimated that the Nokia contract will be worth nearly €140 million next year alone. Infineon was up 8.3 percent over the week to €12, while STMicroelectronics gained 3.8 percent to €14.73.