In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended slightly lower, down 0.1 percent to 1,449.5

Banks were mixed on the session, with Erste Bank 1.6 percent higher to €54.15 on an upgrade to “buy” from Merrill Lynch, while Raiffeisen added 2.4 percent to €89 and Allied Irish Banks gained 2.8 percent to €21.25. Swedish banks, however, were lower on the session. SEB dropped 1 percent to SKr206, Swedbank was 1.7 percent lower to SKr225.50, and Handelsbanken fell 4.5 percent to SKr192 on third quarter results that saw both operating profits and gross income failing to meet predictions.

Oil companies were mixed as well. Statoil was 1.1 percent higher to NKr167.75 on the announcement that its Snorre oilfield, closed due to a safety problem concerning lifeboats, is being brought back online. Neste Oil added 4.5 percent to €24.35 after declines on Monday on a downgrade from Morgan Stanley. Norsk Hydro, however, dropped 0.5 percent to NKr150.75 after it said that operating profits were up 18 percent in the third quarter, less than had been anticipated.

In the construction sector, Spanish builder Metrovacesa dropped 8.1 percent to €115.70 on remarks from the government stock market regulator that its listing on the Ibex index should be examined.

Alcatel, the French telecommunications equipment maker, added 7.2 percent to €10.29. While net profits were down 42 percent in the quarter, mostly due to one-time gains during the third quarter last year, profits for US telecom Lucent, which Alcatel is purchasing, posted results that were better than had been predicted.

Rumors of mergers in Europe’s aerospace and defense sector sent European equities higher on Tuesday even though the oil sector declined as crude oil prices continued to drop. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the session at 1,367.4. 0.2 percent lower.

Defense electronics company Thales and airplane engine manufacturer Safran were both said to be interested in bidding for French aeronautical supply company Zodiac. While Zodiac denied the rumors, all three companies saw gains on the session. Thales added 2.8 percent to €33.67, while Safran gained 4.5 percent to €16.79 and Zodiac was 6.8 percent higher to €47.69. In addition Alcatel, owner of 10 percent of Thales, was up 1.2 percent to €9.61.

Among oil companies, Cepsa dropped 2.1 percent to €55.50, Statoil declined by 3.2 percent to NKr168.50 and OMV was 3.7 percent lower to €41.25.

The semiconductors sector was helped by a prediction from Japanese company Elpida Memory that its sales could double this year. Infineon was 1.6 percent higher to €9.17 and ASML added 1.9 percent to €16.78. A reconfirmation of Merrill Lynch’s “buy” recommendation sent STMicroelectronics up 2.1 percent to €12.96.

In the transport sector, Danish container shipper Moller-Maersk added 3.1 percent to DKr46,900 as it said that its net profits in the first half dropped less than they had been expected to decline.

Drugmaker Bayer was down 0.7 percent to €39.26 even though its second quarter core earlings were up 14.1 percent, more than had been forecast. Elsewhere in the pharmaceuticals sector, Roche added 0.5 percent to SFr226.80 and Novartis was 0.6 percent higher to SFr70.50, both helped by the approval in Switzerland of Lucentis, a blindness treatment.

Gains in recently ailing technology sectors helped the FTSE Eurofirst 300 higher on Wednesday. The Eurofirst added 0.3 percent to 1,359.59. Banks exposed to emerging European economies also did well.

Raiffeisen International, the Austrian bank that bought Impex Bank of Russia earlier in the year was 4.5 percent higher to €71.26. Meanwhile, National Bank of Greece, which purchased Turkish bank Finansbank, gained 3.3 percent to €32.24 and Erste Bank added 2.7 percent to €46.89. Erste has spent over €6.3 billion in acquiring east European holdings since the beginning of the decade.

In the telecommunications equipment sector, Ericsson was 1.8 percent higher to SKr23 on positive comments from Dresdner Kleinwort. Elsewhere in the sector, Nokia and Alcatel each added 2.8 percent to €16.48 and €9.47 respectively.

Phillips Electronics was 0.1 percent higher to €25.94 after it said it would sell Enabling Technologies Group, which manufactures components for industrial equipment, to VDL Groep. Phillips has been in the process of restructuring for some time and comments from Merrill Lynch indicated that there was probably more to come.

In the utilities sector, Eon dropped 0.1 percent to €99.89 even though Deutsche Bank repeated its “buy” recommendation and increased its target share price from €105 to €110.

Weakness in the technology sector send the FTSE Eurofirst 300 0.9 percent lower on Tuesday, to close at 1,309.06. There were serious investor concerns as fears surfaced that quarterly reports could be disappointing.

French engineering group Alstom reported first-quarter sales figures that did not satisfy, while it warned that an increase in orders during the quarter will not be likely to be sustained all year. Shares in Alstom lost 3.5 percent to €66.95.

Among tech companies, Alcatel dropped 5.9 percent to €9.20 despite saying that preliminary quarterly numbers are about where they were expected to be and that its merger with Lucent Technologies would be closed by the end of the year. While Citigroup retained its “buy” recommendation for Alcatel, Dresdner Kleinwort retained a “sell” recommendation and a target share price of €8.60. Elsewhere, Nokia fell 2 percent to €15.14 and Ericsson declined by 3.4 percent to SKr22.60.

Phillips Electronics was down 3.8 percent to €23.06 ahead of its quarterly report, due next Monday.

ASML declined by 2 percent to €15.13 as the semiconductor sector saw losses. STMicroelectronics dropped 2.4 percent to €11.91, while Infineon was down by 2.8 percent to €8.73.

Among gainers on the day, drugmaker Roche ended the session 0.2 percent higher to SFr207.60, and went as high as SFr211, as UBS increased its target share price from SFr230 to SFr270, citing its potential for expansion.

Automobile manufacturer Fiat added 1.7 percent to €10.85 as Goldman Sachs issued a “buy” rating as it resumed coverage of the carmaker.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed up 0.4 percent to 1,379.11 after an early drop to as low as 1,369.89.

The oil sector was instrumental in the day’s gains, with the sector up 0.9 percent as a whole. Neste Oil gained 3.8 percent to €28.90. Statoil was up 1.4 percent to NKr187, while Total added 1 percent to €218.30 and Repsol ended the day up by 0.4 percent to €23.70.

Telecommunications companies were also on the rise. Belgian company Belgacom added 1.8 percent to €27.52 when Morgan Stanley upgraded the telecom from “underweight” to “equal-weight”. Elsewhere, mobile phone group Mobistar gained 2 percent to €61.55.

The largest decline of the day came from European defence company EADS, which dropped 4.4 percent to €32.73. The company’s shares were down after two major shareholders said they will reduce their holdings in the parent company of Airbus. Media group Lagardere announced that it will reduce its stake in EADS from 15 percent to 7.5 percent. Lagardere ended the day 3.7 percent higher to €66.80 as Goldman Sachs upgraded it from “outperform” to “in-line.“ DaimlerChrysler will also reduce its stake in EADS by 7.5 percent, leaving it with 22.5 percent ownership of the defence company.

EADS was also hurt by news that defense electronics group Thales, which had been rumored as a possible partner for EADS in its satellite business, will purchase French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel’s satellite business instead. Alcatel added 2.1 percent to €13.35 and Thales dropped 2.5 percent on the day to €36.36.

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.

In Europe on Friday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.5 percent to 1,383.19. The day’s gain helped the Eurofirst to add 1 percent on the week.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Schering was up 4.6 percent on the week to €86.30 on an offer from Bayer that was higher than an earlier bid from Merck, which withdrew its bid on the grounds that it could not justify upping its offer. Even though WestLB issued a downgrade on Bayer from “add” to “hold” because it considered the possible deal “ambitious”, Bayer still added 6.8 percent on the week to €35.42. Merck, meanwhile, gained 1.4 percent to €80.99 on a reiteration of WestLB’s “buy” recommendation. Elsewhere in the sector, Sanofi-Aventis was up by 5.2 percent to €77.45 on news that a patent dispute had been settled.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen gained 6.7 percent to €62.13, while Fiat was up 7.6 percent to €10.01. BMW added 8.8 percent to €46.01 on indications that it will do well this year.

French telecom equipment maker Alcatel gained 1.6 percent to €13.05 on Friday, a two-year high, bringing its advance for the week to 8.9 percent. The gains came on news that it had re-entered merger talks with US company Lucent Technologies. Rumors that a merger would prompt Alcatel to sell its 9.5 percent stake in defense group Thales. This sent shares in Thales up 4.5 percent on Friday, to €37.65.