The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1.3 percent over the week to close at 1,489.47 on Friday, for a gain of 0.23 percent on the day.

Car and truck makers did will over the week after Volkswagen (OTC: VLKAY) once again raised its share in Swedish truck maker Scandia (OMX: SCV B), this time to 35.3 percent of voting rights and 20 percent of the company’s total share capital. That means that Volkswagen and MAN (FWB: EDF1), which holds 14.8 percent of the Swedish truck maker, together own a bit over 50 percent of voting rights in Scania. The new acquisition by VW is seen as a step toward consolidation in the European truck making sector. VW, which is also the largest shareholder in MAN, added 10.5 percent on the week to €103.5, while MAN gained 8.7 percent to €87.73. Scania was 2.9 percent higher to SKr534.

Irish banks also saw substantial gains during the week. Bank of Ireland (LSE: BKIR; NYSE: IRE; ISEQ: BKIR) gained 1.9 percent to €17.38 and Allied Irish Banks ( LSE: ALBK; NYSE: AIB; FWB: AIB; ISEQ: ALBK) added 7.9 percent to €23.40. Both were helped by an announcement from Anglo Irish Bank (LSE: ANGL; FWB: CKL; ISEQ: ANGL) that it expects its earnings in the first half of the year to be nearly 40 percent higher than last year’s results.

Aerospace company EADS (FWB: EAD; Euronext: EAD) dropped 4.4 percent during the week to €22.60. EADS announced on Friday that losses at its Airbus division sent full-year operating profits for the group down by 86 percent and said it expects losses this year as well.

European equities markets saw significant advances on Thursday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1 percent to close at 1,530.13, a six-year high.

Insurer Axa added 2.6 percent to €33.18 on a full-year report that showed sales 10 percent higher. The results brought an upgraded target share price, up from €34.50 to €36.10 from UBS, which also repeated its “buy” rating.

Elsewhere among financials, banks were higher after Deutsche Bank said that it made a record profit of €6 billion in 2006 due to growth in income from investment banking and trading. While Deutsche Bank ended the day even at €108.45, UBS was up 1.2 percent to €78.70 and Societe Generale gained 1.4 percent to €137.40. Anglo Irish Bank was 3.2 percent higher to €16 placement of 35.71 million shares in order to raise funds for expansion.

The oil sector gained on Royal Dutch Shell’s report that it had underlying profits of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, better than had been anticipated. Shell added 2 percent to €26.50, while OMV gained 1.3 percent to €41.62 and Total was 1.6 percent higher to €52.65.

The pharmaceuticals sector was higher on news from UK company AstraZeneca that it will emphasize joint ventures and cut jobs to promote growth. Novartis added 1.1 percent to SFr72.30 on an upgrade from JP Morgan, which raised the drug maker’s recommendation from “neutral” to “overweight” and upped its target share price from SFr74 to SFr81. Santhera Pharmaceuticals added 23.6 percent to SFr119.90 on an upgrade of its target share price from SFr123 to SFr175 from Deutsche Bank. Santhera expects an early approval of its treatment for a neuromuscular disease from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the day and the week higher on Friday, closing at 1,449.14. The Eurofirst added 0.1 percent on the session and 2 percent higher for the week.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, bids news sent both Schwarz Pharma of German and UCB of Belgium higher when the Schwarz family accepted a €4.4 billion offer, including both cash and shares, for the company in which they hold a 59.2 percent stake. Schwarz added 4.7 percent during the week to €95.99, while UCB was 9.2 percent highr to €52.25.

Bids news also brought gains to the tobacco sector after UK company Gallaher said it had received an offer which many think came from Japan Tobacco. Despite a decline on Friday after a downgrade from Cazenove, Gallaher was 24.2 percent higher over the week to £11.72. With investors hoping for more consolidation in the sector, French-Spanish tobacco group Altadis ended the week with a gain of 8.8 percent to €40.5.

Banks also had a good week. Irish banks were led higher by Anglo Irish Bank after it said that its pre-tax profits were better than had been expected and after UBS upped its target share price. Anglo Irish added 8.4 percent to €15.44, while Allied Irish Banks added 3.8 percent over the week to €21.49 even after it didn’t raise its growth guidance. Bank of Ireland, meanwhile, was 3.7 percent higher to €16.65.

Austrian banks also did well. Erste Bank added 4.2 percent to €57.78 after ING initiated coverage with a “buy” recommendation. Raiffeisen International was 6.8 percent higher to €99.90. Both banks do substantial business in eastern Europe.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was higher on Wednesday, but only by 0.9 points to 1,440.02 as investors were reluctant to do much ahead of new data on US employment, due to be released Thursday.

Banks were higher after Anglo Irish Bank said that its full-year pre-tax profits were higher than had been expected and predicted that its good performance will continue into next year. Anglo Irish was up 3.3 percent to €14.82. The announcement and forecast helped Allied Irish Banks to gain 1.7 percent to €21.67, while Bank of Ireland added 2.3 percent to €16.73.

Deutsche Post added 0.6 percent to €23.50 on positive broker comments after making presentations focusing on its DHL Express unit. Credit Suisse raised Deutsch Post’s target share price from €23.5 to €27, while Citigroup held its target share price at €21.50 but said there was a potential for valuation to rise.

In the oil sector, Norsk Hydro was 3 percent lower to NKr147.25 after it said that its production until 2010 will be lower than it previously estimated due to capacity limitations within the industry. Statoil followed Norsk down, falling 1.6 percent to NKr168.50.

Among telecommunications companies, Telecom Italia dropped 0.8 percent to €2.25 on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from ABN Amro, which cited operational weakness and limits on value creation.

French retailer PPR was 2.2 percent lower to €113.50 after a placement of 900,000 shares by Morgan Stanley.

Profit-taking sent European equities markets lower on Tuesday after Monday’s advances. Also helping the losses were weaker than expected earnings reports and downgrades from brokers. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.4 percent lower to 1,378.98.

In the banking sector, Anglo Irish Bank declined by 3.1 percent to €12.69 after a trading update that disappointed. Elsewhere in the sector, Deutsche Postbank was 1.6 percent lower to €60.60 on a downgrade from “hold” to “reduce” and a lowering of its target share price from Dresdner Kleinwort. Credit Agricole was 0.8 percent higher to €31.94 after it made an offer on Monday for the shares it does not already own in Greek insurer Phoenix Metrolife. Emporiki Bank added 1.9 percent on the news. Phoenix Metrolife is a division of Emporiki.

Insurer Alleanza declined by 3.4 percent to €9.263 after it reported that both revenue and premium income had dropped in the first half. This worried investors even though net profits were up by 28 percent. The Italian bank also said that it would not return cash to shareholders as planned. Generali, which controls Alleanza, were 0.5 percent lower to €29.34.

In the telecommunications sector, Nokia dropped 1.6 percent to €15.78 even though traders tended not to believe talk that the company will soon issue a profit warning.

The banking sector helped the FTSE Eurofirst 300 to a gain on Wednesday’s session. The Eurofirst was 1.1 percent higher to 1,341.18.

Banks weren’t the only gainers, however. Novo Nordisk, which is the world’s largest producer of insulin, gained 7.6 percent to DKr391.50 on a report that its operating profits were up by 17 percent in the first half of the year. In the electronics sector, Phillips added 4.1 percent to €26.20 ahead of an expected announcement that Silver Lake Partners and Kohlberg Kravits Roberts have prevailed in the bidding to purchase the company’s semiconductor unit.

Automobile manufacturer, BMW added 0.4 percent to €39,92. Shares in BMW had gone as high as 4 percent higher earlier in the day on the strength of its quarterly report, but it lost almost all of that gain when it was announced that the family that holds almost half of the carmaker’s stock will sell around 1.5 percent of that stake.

Among banks, Bank of Ireland added 2.2 percent to €14.26, while Anglo Irish Bank was up by 2.7 percent to €11.70. Allied Irish Bank gained 3.8 percent to €19.94 on an upgrade from “sell” to “neutral” from Goldman Sachs. In addition, Lehman Brothers raised its target share price on Allied from €20.18 to €21.75 and Deutsche Bank advanced its target share price from €21.50 to €22.

BNP Paribas ended the session at €78.20, 4.2 percent higher, after its second quarter report showed net profits up by 30.6 percent. Profits were helped by its acquisition of the Italian bank Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. Bucking the trend, Credit Suisse was down by 3.4 percent to SFr66.60 when its earnings report for the second quarter was at predictions but no better.

Among notable losers on the session was Mittal Steel, which fell by 2 percent to €26.50. The decline came on news that net profits for the recently acquired Arcelor were below expectations and even though Mittal‘s own report beat predictions.

Corporate earnings reports that were not uniformly good hurt European equities markets on Tuesday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropping 0.9 percent to 1,326.70. A losing start on Wall Street did not make things any better for the European exchange.

The banking sector, like the corporate reports, were mixed on the session. Irish banks did fairly well. Allied Irish Banks were up 1.5 percent to €19.22 after it reported that its pre-tax profits were up by 47 percent in the first half of the year. This result helped Bank of Ireland to add 1.2 percent to €7.54. Anglo Irish Bank ended the day even at €11.42. The European banking sector as a whole, however dropped 1.2 percent for the session. Deutsche Bank fell 4.7 percent to €86. While the German bank’s net profit was up 30 percent in the second quarter overall, revenues in its equity investment unit were down by 50 percent.

Among utilities, Gaz de France was 1.7 percent lower to €27.38. Meanwhile, French utility Suez dropped 2.5 percent to €31.65. Suez’s first half sales were up by 10.2 percent, but did not meet predictions.

Ryanair declined by 3.2 percent to €7.54 even though its quarterly profits were up by 80 percent, much more than had been expected. The decline came after the low-cost airline’s chief executive said that the outlook for the rest of the year was “cautious”.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Elan dropped 0.3 percent to €11.69 despite an early gain of more than 3 percent after its latest results showed that losses were down in the second quarter.