European markets saw gains Friday.

The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.62 percent higher to 1,576.75.

Frankfurt’s Dax was up 0.21 percent to 7,949.17, while the Paris CAC-40 gained 0.6 percent to 5,794.87 and the IBEX jumped 1.42 percent to 15,603.9.

In Madrid, Banco Santander (IBEX-35: SAN; LSE: BNC; NYSE: STD) added 1.6 percent to €14.38 as Citigroup upgraded it from “hold” to “buy”, while builder Acciona (IBEX-35: ANA) was up 2.7 percent to €215.

Carmakers were up in Europe on quarterly results.

Renault (Euronext: RNO) was 3.32 percent higher to €110.91, gaining on news that Nissan Motor’s (TYO: 7201) quarterly report.

Renault owns 44 percent of Nissan.

Peugeot (Euronext UG; OTC: PEUGY) added 6.31 percent to €61.46 for the best performance on the CAC-40 after it said sales were up 12 percent in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) had the best day on the Dax as it gained 4.18 percent to €181.91 ahead it its third-quarter results.

Truck maker Man (FWB: EDF1) was also higher, up 1.08 percent to €119.88.

Telecommunications utilities were mixed after Thursday’s gains.

Deutsche Telekom (FWB: DT; LSE: DEU; TYO: 9496) was 2.51 percent higher to €14.27, but France Telekom (Euronext: FTE; NYSE: FTE) dropped 0.54 percent to €25.66.

Gas and electricity utilities were also mixed as Suez (Euronext: SZE; NYSE: SZE) gained 1.19 percent to €44.93, but Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) fell 1.06 percent to €133.76.

In the airlines sector, Air France (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AHK) was up 0.7 percent to €25.83 while Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) was down 0.64 percent to €20.07.

European markets were mixed Tuesday.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.15 percent lower to 1,479.61.

While the Dax and the CAC-40 were higher, by 0.23 percent to 7,424.75 and by 0.36 percent to 5,418.78 respectively, Madrid’s IBEX fell 0.21 percent to 14,239.8.

Credit Agricole (Euronext: AGA) was 0.26 percent lower to €27.82, while Spain’s Banco Santander (IBEX-35: SAN; NYSE: STD; LSE: BNC) dropped 0.5 percent to €13.39, Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) fell 0.81 percent to €92.38, Banco Bilbao (IBEX-35: BBVA; NYSE: BBV) was down 1.1 percent to €16.80 and Dexia (Euronext: DEXB; Euronext: DX) dropped 1.76 percent to €19.59 for the worst performance of the day on the CAC-40.

Utilities were also lower.

EDF (Euronext: EEN) was down 0.66 percent to €70.40, while Eon (FWB: EOA; NYSE: EON; LSE: EON) fell 1.14 percent to €117.47. Power generator Alstom (Euronext: ALO) was 0.15 percent lower to €122.19.

The oil sector was down as oil prices fell as Hurricane Dean seemed to become less of a threat to Gulf of Mexico oil facilities.

Total (Euronext: FP; NYSE: TOT) dropped 0.4 percent to €52.47, while Repsol (IBEX-35: REP) was 0.8 percent lower to €26.03.

Car and truck makers were mixed.

While Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) added 2.09 percent to €150.74, Renault (Euronext: RNO) fell 0.64 percent to €94.29 and Man (FWB: EDF1) was down 0.89 percent to €94.17.

The best performance on the day on the Dax came from drug maker Bayer (FWB: BAY; NYSE: BAY; TYO: 4863), which added 3.82 percent to €56.72 on continuing rumors that Novartis (NYSE: NVS) is about to make an offer.

Air France had the best day on the CAC-40 with a gain of 3.66 percent to €28.30.

The retail sector saw gains in Paris.

Luxury goods retailer PPR (Euronext: PP), whose subsidiaries include Gucci, was 1.12 percent higher to €115.73, while Carrefour (Euronext: CA) added 1.65 percent to €48.79.

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.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up, but just barely, on Monday, adding only 0.04 percent to end the session at 1,538.32. The energy sector was lower on bids news, while the banking sector declined on profit-taking.

Airlines were higher on the session, however. Aer Lingus added 1.8 percent to €2.85 after Ryanair said that it might make a new bid for its rival. This could happen as soon as in May if its previous, lapsed, bid is cleared by competition authorities of the European Commission. Ryanair, meanwhile, gained 6.8 percent to €11.98 on an unexpected report of net profits that were up 30 percent in its fiscal third quarter.

Profit-taking in the banking sector was encouraged by brokers who issued downgrades to both SEB and Credit Suisse. ING dropped its recommendation on Credit Suisse from “buy” to “hold”, sending the Swiss bank 0.7 percent lower to SFr88.10. Swedish Bank SEB dropped 1.9 percent to SKr230.50 on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from Deutsche Bank, which said that the benefits of a possible merger with Nordea were already priced in. Nordea held steady at SKr110.

In the energy sector, Endsea was lower after Eon’s Friday bid was lower than Friday’s closing price but higher than its previous offer for the Spanish company. While some Endsea shareholders had hoped for a higher bid, Eon’s bid was high enough according to an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort. Endsea dropped 2.4 percent to €38.10, while Eon fell 0.4 percent to €108.97. Acciona, the Spanish builder which holds 21 percent of Endsea, added 0.3 percent to €155.45 amid speculation that it could oppose the deal after it said last week that it would sell its stake in Endsea if the bid by Eon is accepted.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1.6 percent this week to close at 1,537.65 as earnings reports continued to be issued and mergers news was in focus.

The energy sector reacted to Gas Natural’s withdrawal from the bidding for Endsea, leaving Eon with the only offer on the table for the Spanish energy company. Gas Natural dropped 0.9 percent on the week to €30.85 while Eon, which was due to deliver its sealed bid to the Spanish stock market regulator on Friday, added 10.9 percent to €109.43. Endsea was 0.9 percent higher to €39.04 and Acciona, the Spanish builder which owns a 21 percent stake in Endsea gained 1 percent to €155.

The steel sector was also affected by bids news. Corus added 7.9 percent to €9.13 as it was revealed that Tata Steel had won the bidding for the Anglo-Dutch steel maker. Hopes that there would be further consolidation in the sector sent ThyssenKrupp and Arcelor Mittal 3.8 percent higher each, to €36.54 and €36.43 respectively.

Truck manufacturers were higher during the week as well. Volvo added 3.2 percent to SKr513 even after it failed to meet projections for the fourth quarter when it upped its outlook and announced an extraordinary pay-out. Scania was 9 percent higher to SKr510.

Airlines were mostly up this week, the exception being Alitalia, which dropped 0.2 percent to €1.07 in a week when it received from two private equity groups but Air France-KLM said it was not interested in making a bid. Lufthansa added 3.5 percent to €21.90 on an upgrade from UBS, while Iberia gained 6.3 percent to €3.19. Air France, which also received a UBS upgrade, was 10.6 percent higher to €35.59.

Mergers and acquisitions rumors once again helped European equities see gains on Monday as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.6 percent to 1,429.95.

The airlines sector was mixed on the session. On an announcement by the Italian government that it will reduce its stake in Alitalia to less than 30 percent, from the 49.9 percent that it now holds, the Italian air carrier added 2.4 percent to €0.96. Air France-KLM, which recently said that it is in preliminary talks with Alitalia concerning a possible merger, dropped 0.7 percent to €30.30. Analysts for Citigroup, however, felt that it would be more likely that domestic bidders would be interested rather than foreign carriers such as Air France or Lufthansa. Lufthansa was nonetheless 2.4 percent higher to €19.95 when Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its “overweight” rating and lifted the carrier’s target share price from €18.20 to €25.

In the utilities sector, Spanish power generators were up on rumors that the government could hike electricity tariffs by 10 percent in 2007. If this turns out to be the case, it would be largest increase in the tariffs in 20 years. Endsea was 0.4 percent higher to €35.15, while Iberdrola added 1.5 percent to €33.48 and Union Fenosa gained 2.7 percent to €39.94.

Also in Spain, property group Inmocaral purchased 15 percent of builder FCC from Acciona. FCC added 3.6 percent to €75.20 and Inmocaral was 5.7 percent higher to €5.38. Acciona, which did not say how it would use the €1.53 billion it will receive for the transaction, gained 0.4 percent to €131.50. Some analysts expect that Acciona will use the money to buy more of a stake in Endsea as part of an attempt to foil Germany’s Eon from acquiring Endsea. Eon was 1.5 percent higher on the session, to €95.90.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1.9 percent during the week to close at 1,396.45 on Friday, driven largely by activity among Spanish stocks. The activity made Spain’s IBEX-35 index the top performer in Europe over the week with a 4.4 percent gain to 12,934.7. The IBEX was as high as 13,001.6 at one point on Friday.

In the utilities sector, Endsea added 14.4 percent over the week to close at €33.55 on the news that Acciona had purchased a 10 percent stake in the utility and was thinking of buying more. This move was seen as a potential deal-breaker for the proposed Endsea/Eon merger. Eon, the German utility, reacted by raising its bid by 38 percent, but that sent it to a loss of 2.7 percent on the week to €93.48 as investors feared a bidding war. Acciona, on the other hand, was 5.9 percent higher on the week to €120.

Meanwhile, Iberdrola added 9.4 percent over the week to €35.30 after construction group ACS said that it had become the largest shareholder in the power generator with a 10 percent stake. Dresdner Kleinwort said that the purchase by ACS could protect Iberdrola from foreign takeover attempts. It was also seen as a step toward a merger between Iberdrola and Union Fenosa. The activity sent Union Fenosa 0.3 percent higher to €40.28, while ACS added 2.9 percent to €37.40.

Also in Spain, this time in the construction sector, Sacyr Vallehermoso gained 13 percent during the week to €35.85, largely on speculation that it would be a bids target. The rumors had ACS as a possible bidder, but most analysts dismissed the talk.

The European equities markets were up again on Thursday as bids rumors continue to circulate in a number of sectors. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.1 percent on the session to 1,398.00.

In the utilities sector, Endsea dropped 1.8 percent to €34.39 after Eon raised its bid in response to Spanish conglomerate Acciona’s purchase of 10 percent of Endsea. Acciona fell 0.1 percent to €119.90 and Eon dropped 0.3 percent to €92.65. Meanwhile Gas Natural, which is also said to be interested in Endsea, declined by 2.7 percent to €29.38.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics was 3.1 percent higher to €13.75 on talk that it could receive bids from private equity, even though it would be a difficult purchase due to its 28 percent ownership by the Italian and French governments. That was the factor cited by Cantor Fitzgerald Euorpe as it downgraded STM to “sell into strength”. Elsewhere in the sector, Infineon dropped 5.6 percent after it was reported that Taiwan company BenQ’s German handset unit will file for insolvency soon. Infineon is one of BenQ’s largest suppliers.

Among car and truck makers, MAN added 3.8 percent to €65.68 after it was said that Volkswagen could offer for the company. MAN has been trying to purchase Scania, the Swedish truck maker in which VW owns a major share, but VW’s chief executive has said he favors a deal that involves his company as well. VW dropped 0.1 percent on the news to €67.55, but Scania added 1.4 percent to SKr439. Elsewhere in the sector, Renault was 0.8 percent higher to €90.55 on positive broker comments, while Peugeot dropped 2.8 percent to €44.57 on lower sales volumes in July and August.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 1.4 percent higher on Tuesday to 1,389.25, its highest close in over four months. Mergers and acquisitions again furnished most of the action, joined by gains in the oil sector after crude oil prices rose a bit overnight.

The proposed Scania/MAN merger again made news as Volkswagen, the largest shareholder in Scania, came out against the deal. VW’s chief executive criticized the proposed deal and suggested an alternative one which would involve not only MAN and Scania, but VW’s Brazilian truck business as well. When all was said and done, Scania and Investor, it’s second largest shareholder were lower on the session, but both VW and MAN saw gains.

Investor dropped 1.3 percent to SKr152.50, while Scania’s A shares were 6.2 percent lower and the Swedish truck maker’s B shares declined 7.8 percent to SKr432 and SKr421.50 respectively. Volkswagen added 1 percent to €66.65, while MAN was 1.4 percent higher to €62.55.

In the utilities sector, meanwhile, Acciona purchased 10 percent of Endsea on Monday and said that it might make a further purchase. This move put the Endsea/Eon merger in question, which has been in the works since the beginning of the year, when Eon bid €27 billion in cash for Endsea. Also affecting the merger was a ruling from the European Commission which held that Spain had violated EU in certain conditions it put on Eon’s acquisition of Endsea.

While Eon said that the ruling strengthened its determination to pursue the deal, the German utility’s shares dropped 2 percent to €94.09. Acciona added 5.1 percent to €117.35, while Endsea gained 10.5 percent to €32.50. Elsewhere, Gas Natural was up 5.6 percent to €28.66 as it repeated its own hope to buy Endsea.

In the oil sector, OMV was 1.7 percent higher to €37.89, while Statoil added 3.6 percent to NKr152.50.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.8 percent to 1,381.24 on Monday on new mergers and acquisition news and on gains in the automobile manufacturing sector.

The big news was the merger between French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel and US peer Lucent Technologies. Alcatel was up 4.8 percent to €13.38 after it was announced on Sunday that it will purchase Lucent for $13.4 billion. The two companies had been talking merger for five years. In other news affecting Alcatel, French defence electronics company Thales gained 1.6 percent to €37.26 on the announcement that its board will meet Tuesday to explore closer ties with Alcatel, which already owns 9.5 percent of Thales.

In Spanish mergers and acquisitions news, construction company Acciona added 2.8 percent to €132.10 on rumors that it will try to acquire Abengoa, the engineering group. Acciona is up more than 40 percent since the beginning of the year.

Dutch chemicals firm DSM lost 1.8 percent to €37.01 after it said it had added to its stake in nutritional group Sciona. The move led UBS to cut its recommendation on DSM from “neutral” to “reduce”.

The European automobile manufacturing sector was taken higher by strong data on sales. After reporting that its sales in China was up 40 percent in the first quarter, Volkswagen added 2.7 percent to €63.99. China is VW’s second largest market. Meanwhile, Fiat was up 3.9 percent to €10.80 in anticipation of March’s Italian sales data, which is expected to show that the company’s sales grew faster than the overall market.