After reaching a six-year high on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 finished the week more or less exactly where it began, closing at 1,543.71 at the end of Friday’s session. Banks were mixed, as was the automobile manufacturing sector. Insurance was up.

In the insurance sector, Allianz (NYSE: AZ; LSE: ALV) added 5.4 percent to €164.07 after it reported strong results and offered positive guidance. France’s Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) was also higher, gaining 2.4 percent to €33.51. Elsewhere in the sector, Converium added 14.9 percent to SFr21.60 as investors hoped it could get a better offer out of Scor after it rejected the French reinsurer’s bid of SFr21 per share.

Among banks, ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN) and Banco Santander (LSE: BNC; NYSE: STD) were higher but Italian banks Capitalia and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena declined. Santander added 0.3 percent on the week to €14.54, while Amro added 10 percent to €27.94 on sale rumors. Siena was 0.4 percent lower to €5.05, while Capitalia dropped 2.6 percent to €6.86.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen was up 8.1 percent during the week to €94.94 on strong results for the full year. DaimlerChrysler dropped 3.6 percent to €53.80 after VW said it was not interested in its US Chrysler division.

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.

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.9 percent to 1,343.55 as oil prices declined and a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbollah went into effect. Also helping the advance was good performance in the insurance sector.

Despite falling prices, the oil sector saw gains after BP said that it could keep half of its Prudhoe Bay field in Alaska in production despite the necessity to replace corroded pipelines. Total was 0.7 percent higher to €53.05, while OMV added 1.1 percent to €45.40.

Airlines were mixed after the security level in Britain was lowered and some restrictions on carry-on luggage were lifted after last week’s terrorist warnings and arrests. Air France-KLM was up by 1.8 percent to €19.60, while Lufthansa gained 2 percent to €14.52. On the other hand, Ryanair dropped 1.2 percent to €7.150 on its complaints that BAA was not doing enough to get delayed flights off the ground.

The insurance sector as a whole was helped by a Citigroup upgrade from “neutral” to “positive”. Both Citigroup and Deutsche Bank named Allianz, Axa, and Zurich Financial as their favorites in the sector. On the comments, Allianz was 1.2 percent higher to €130.09, while Zurich Financial gained 1.5 percent to SFr282.00 and Axa advanced by 1.6 percent to €28.55. Reinsurers Munich Re and Swiss Re were also helped by the comments, adding 1.4 percent to €115.65 and 2 percent to SFr93.00 respectively.

An upgraded by Deutsche Bank from “hold” to “buy” helped steel maker ThyssenKrupp 2 percent higher to €26.61.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.7 percent on Monday to close at 1,269.21, helped by an announced merger in the telecommunications sector.

Nokia of Finland said it would merge its network equipment unit with that of Siemens. The announcement sent shares in Nokia up by 3.2 percent to €16.15, while Siemens added 7.2 percent to €67.36. The merger was expected to save €1.5 billion per year by 2010. While Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein made negative comments about the deal, including that the deal would take a long time to close, HSBC upgraded Siemens from “neutral” to “overweight” and increased the German telecom’s target share price from €76 to €81.

Also in telecoms, TeliaSonera dropped 1.8 percent to SKr39 on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from Citigroup.

In semiconductors, Infineon was 0.7 percent higher at €8.57, while STMicroelectronics gained 1.9 percent to €12.49 on a buy recommendation from Morgan Stanley.

Ferrovial added 4.2 percent to €55.45 on an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Societe Generale, based on the assumption that the Spanish construction group will complete its takeover of airport operator BAA.

In the insurance sector, Allianz was up 3.5 percent to €118.48, while RAS gained 2.9 percent to €18.57 and Axa advanced by 1.3 percent to €24.30.

European equities did a bit better on Wednesday, despite new data on prices out of the US that only served to heighten worries that inflation is getting out of hand. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.1 percent by the end of the trading day to 1,240.15.

Banking and finance was mixed on mergers and acquisitions issues. After Credit Suisse said that it would sell its Winterthur insurance business to French insurer Axa, Credit Suisse gained 1.4 percent to SFr63.70 but Axa dropped 1.8 percent to €23.87. Meanwhile, Greek bank Emporiki added 1.8 percent to €25.24 as investors hoped for another bid after Greece’s finance minister made the comment that it should not be too quick to accept Credit Agricole’s bid. Agricole, meanwhile, was up 2.1 percent to €27.33.

The pharmaceuticals sector also saw maneuvering around bids issues. Bayer added 6.9 percent to €32.66 when competitor Merck took itself out of the bidding for German healthcare group Schering. Schering gained 2.1 percent to €89.00, while Merck was up 6 percent to €72.58 as investors anticipated a possible special dividend.

On the negative side of the ledger, airplane manufacturer EADS lost 26.3 percent to €18.73 after announcing that delays in deliveries of the Airbus A380 superjumbo jet would cost it €2 billion next year and that in view of the delays, it would allow buyers to walk away from orders they had already placed. In consequence, Deutsche Bank issued a downgrade on EADS from “buy” to “hold” and revised its target share price downward from €33 to €26. WestLB, on the other hand, upgraded the aircraft maker to “buy”.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up just 0.1 percent to 1,399.35 on the day Monday as the oil sector was weak on declining crude oil prices but insurance companies and banks did well.

The oil sector was down 1.5 percent as a whole. Statoil dropped 3.1 percent to NKr20 not only on lower oil prices but on a quarterly earnings report that did not meet expectations even though its operating profits were up by a reported 44 percent. Norsk Hydro was down 3.2 percent to NKr940. OMV declined by 5.1 percent to €53.40 despite saying that it is in talks with Verbund, Austria’s biggest utility. Neste Oil was down 4 percent to €27.75. Oilfield services company Saipem was down 2.3 percent on the day to €20.16.

In the insurance sector, CNP Assurances was up 4.3 percent to €92.90 after last week’s upgrade from West LB. Axa, another French insurer, added 1.2 percent to €30.36 after Bear Stearns reiterated its “outperform” rating. Axa is expected to release its quarterly report on Thursday. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch raised its target share price on Zurich Financial from SFr350 to SFr365, sending Zurich up 1.9 percent on the day to SFr315.

Credit Suisse was up 0.3 percent to SFr77.90, Deutsche Bank added 0.4 percent to €99.20, and UBS was up 1.1 percent to SFr150.60 in a day of advances in the banking sector. ABN Amro gained 1.7 percent to €23.39, while UniCredit was up 1.9 percent to €6.22. But the star performer of the day was Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. On upgrades from Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley, the Italian bank gained 3.5 percent on the day to €4.8760. Credit Suisse upped its rating on the bank from “neutral” to “outperform” on what it called its “restructuring potential”. Morgan Stanley based its upgrade, from “underweight” to “equal weight” on good earnings coupled with cost cutting and reduced credit charges.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down by 0.6 percent to 1,383.20 as the day’s trading session closed. The oil and utilities sectors were down on lower oil prices, and the oil and mining sectors were affected by the news that China had raised interest rates unexpectedly. On the other hand, the insurance sector saw gains on the day.

UBS issued comments on several insurers and reinsurers, helping them higher. Axa received an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy, which helped it add 1.4 percent to €29.35. The recommendation on Allianz was raised from “reduce” to “neutral” and it gained 1.2 percent to €134.11. Among reinsurers, UBS reiterated its “buy” recommendations on Swiss Re and Hannover Re, and they each added 0.6 percent to SFr91.45 and €29.70 respectively. Munich Re retained its “neutral” rating and was up 1.2 percent to €113.85. Outside of the round of recommendations, Italian insurer Alleanza was up 2.8 percent to €9.757 on the news that a plan is in the works to return over €1 in excess cash to its shareholders.

Among oil companies, Statoil was down 3.1 percent to NKr203, while Neste Oil dropped 2.7 percent to €27.49 and Total declined by 1.2 percent to €222.20.

In the utilities sector, Finnish company Fortum was worst off, dropping 8.5 percent to €19.60, while Electricite de France lost 4.2 percent to €46.55, RWE was down 2.6 percent to €69.60, and Eon declined by 1.3 percent to €95.95.

Results were mixed in the chemicals sector. Bayer reported an 8.2 percent advance in operating earnings in the first quarter, adding 3.5 percent to €36.75 on the day. BASF, however, dropped 1.1 percent to €68.28.

In Europe on Friday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed at 1,207.44, a loss of 0.5 percent on the week.

Gains in the oil sector helped the equities market not lose any more than it did by balancing declines in the insurance sector due to fears of a new round of claims expected from victims of Hurricane Rita.

Despite a 2.7 percent decline on Friday due to a downgrade of Rita’s strength, Finnish oil refiner Neste Oil gained 11.5 percent for the week to end at €31.20. Neste reached a record high of €32.19 on Thursday.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen gained 13.1 percent on the week to close at €51.86 on Friday after going as high as €52.53 earlier in the day. Volkswagen’s strength was due partly to positive comment by brokers and partly to rumors that US billionaire Kirk Kerkorian is building a stake in the company much as he has done in General Motors.

In the insurance sector, Munich Re fell 2.5 percent over the week, mainly on rumors that it will soon issue a warning on profits. Elsewhere in the sector, Swiss Re dropped 2.5 percent to SFr81.25, Zurich Financial lost 2.4 percent to SFr217.70, and Axa fell 2.1 percent to €21.84.