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.

The European equities markets were higher on Wednesday, aided by gains in the banking and oil sectors. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1 percent to 1,528, its highest closing level in six years.

In the oil sector, Statoil gained 1.6 percent to NKr163.50 on comments from UBS that outlined the upside of an announced merger with Norsk Hydro. The broker upgraded its recommendation on Statoil from “neutral” to “buy” and hiked its target share price from NKr166 to NKr185.

Banks saw gains in several nations. In Spain, JP Morgan issued upgrades for both BBVA and Santander. BBVA added 1.4 percent to €19.35 after its recommendation was raised from “neutral” to “overweight”, while Santander was 2.3 percent higher to €143.49 on an identical hike in its rating.

In Italy, Morgan Stanley upgraded both Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and Capitalia from “underweight” to “equal weight”. Siena was up 0.7 percent to €4.9525 and Capitalia gained 2.3 percent to €7.02. Meanwhile, the broker added Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara to its model portfolio, sending the bank’s shares up 3.1 percent to €24.10.

Meanwhile, UniCredit’s announcement that it will buy out minority shareholders in German bank HVB Group and Bank Austria Creditanstalt send shares in both banks significantly higher. HVB gained 4.2 percent to €36.00, while Bank Austria was 4.7 percent higher to €131.50. UniCredit, which already owns 95 percent of both banks, was up 1.6 percent to €7.2050.

Among losers on the day was SAP. The software maker dropped 6.5 percent to €35.89 when it said that margins would be lower this year and failed to issue an outlook on license sales.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.1 percent to 1,468.30 on Tuesday on light trade.

Among gainers on the day was Alitalia, which gained 3 percent to €0.986 on speculation that the Italian airline could hook up with international carriers.

Consumer goods company Henkel was 3.8 percent higher to €112.28 on a target share price upgrade from Merrill Lynch, which also repeated its “buy” recommendation citing growth in sales. The broker raised the German company’s target share price from €100 to €127.

Bancha Monte dei Paschi di Siena added 1.3 percent to €4.89 when French insurance company CNP Assurances revealed that it is interested in bidding for the Italian bank’s insurance unit, MPS Vita. CNP added 0.2 percent to €82.15 on the news.

Danone was 1.9 percent higher to €119.00 after Goldman Sachs issued a “buy” recommendation for the French foods group on the basis of growth that was outpacing the sector.

Luxury goods group Richemont added 1.4 percent to SFr66.65 on an improved full-year earnings forecast from Goldman Sachs. The upgrade came after Richemont announced on Friday that profits were up 22 percent in the first half.

Deutsche Borse was up 3 percent to €129.74 after speculation surfaced that it might be interested in bidding on Spanish exchange BME now that the German exchange has withdrawn its bid for Euronext. BME gained 7.4 percent to €29.95 on the rumors.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 1.1 percent higher on Monday, closing at 1,463.96, 14 percent higher than where it began the year. The day’s gains had much to do with rumors of bids and earnings reports that pleased investors.

The insurance sector did well on the day. Allianz added 2.8 percent to €147.90 on positive comments from several brokers in the wake of its quarterly report, issued last Thursday with results that were better than had been anticipated. Citigroup and Credit Suisse both raised their target share prices for the German insurer, to €170 and €171 respectively, while Deutsche Bank also upped its target to €171. Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and UBS also had good things to say.

Reinsurers were up after a quieter than expected hurricane season in the Caribbean. While Munich Re was expected to announce that its third quarter net profit had risen by nearly 50 percent, Hannover Re added 2.57 percent to €33.94 and Swiss Re was 2.71 percent higher to SFr106.

In the banking sector, Banca Monte Dei Paschi di Siena added 3.5 percent to €4.95 on rumors of a possible bid from ABN Amro even though the chairman of ABN’s Italian arm denied that he had called it a takeover target. ABN was 1.1 percent higher to €23.02.

Ferrovial was 2 percent higher to €75.55 after the Spanish construction company said that while it’s property division isn’t officially for sale, it is still looking at offers.

Advances in technology stocks and the banking sector took the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up by 2.2 percent on Wednesday to 1,299.19. It was the first day of gains after four consecutive days of losses for the 300.

In Italy, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was 4.4 percent higher to €4.54 as new rumors circulated that Sanpaolo IMI might be interested in offering. Sanpaolo added 2.8 percent to €13.68. Nordea added 5.5 percent to SKr85.75 after it released a more positive quarterly report than had been expected. Credit Agricole was up 5.6 percent to €30.15 on the possibility that it would be the only bidder for Emporiki Bank of Greece, which dropped 3.7 percent to €25. Bank of Cyprus was rumored to be considering pulling out of the bidding over difficulties involving pension costs; it added 8.8 percent on the session to €7.14.

Among telecommunications companies, Nokia was 5.4 percent higher to €15.56 on an upgrade by Lehman Brothers, from “equal weight” to “overweight”, ahead of its quarterly report, due later in the day. Meanwhile, Ericsson gained 6.9 percent to SKr23.20 on news that it has secured a contract to build a GSM network for Brazilian telecom Vivo.

In the semiconductor sector, Infineon was up 3.2 percent to €8.73, while STMicroelectronics gained 4.9 percent to €12.35 and ASML advanced by 6.4 percent to €15.80 on record net profits in the second quarter.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up by 0.2 percent to 1,311.64 on Wednesday, led higher by the Italian banking sector, which was mixed but generally higher on the session.

Banca Intesa dropped 0.4 percent to €4.43 after early gains when its chairman said that continuing rumors that it would merge with Capitalia had no basis in fact. Capitalia, meanwhile, added 1 percent to €6.59 after going as high as €6.7650 earlier in the session, on its status as a possible takeover target. Other Italian banks thought to be possible bid targets include Banca Monte Paschi di Siena, which gained 1.1 percent to €4.63, and Banca Popolare Italiana, up 2.1 percent to €8.29. Analysts expect some consolidation in the sector at some point.

In the oil sector, Goldman Sachs issued upgrades for OMV and Norsk Hydro, sending share prices for both companies higher. Norsk Hydro was up 3.3 percent to NKr174 on an upgrade from “sell” to “neutral”, while OMV added 3.6 percent to €48.55 as its recommendation was raised from “neutral” to “buy”. In addition, UBS upgraded Norsk Hydro as well, from “neutral” to “buy”, and upped its target share price from NKr195 to NKr210.

On the negative side of the oil sector, Goldman Sachs reduced its recommendations for Neste Oil and Saipem, downgrading both companies from “neutral” to “sell”. The change in rating hurt Neste Oil, which dropped 0.3 percent to €2734, but Saipem still managed a gain of 1.2 percent to €18.20.

In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.4 percent to 1,405.55 as the telecommunications and automobile manufacturing sectors saw advances on the day.

Volkswagen added 4.3 percent to €61.24 after it announced that the number of cars it sold in the first four months of the year was up by 14.5 percent. It also said that restructuring is still a top priority. Renault was up 3.2 percent to €96.35, while Porsche gained 2.1 percent to €824 on a reiteration of its “outperform” rating from Credit Suisse. Peugeot was up 2 percent to €53.15.

KPN, the Dutch telecoms group, added 3.1 percent to €9.62 on a report that its core profit was up 10 percent in the first quarter, higher than expected, as its mobile unit more than compensated for weakness in its fixed-line business. This report earned a reiteration of its “outperform” rating from Bear Stearns. Other telecommunications companies that saw advances on the day included Telnor, which added 0.9 percent to NKr83.25, and Telecom Italia, up 2.1 percent to €2.322.

Not all telecoms saw gains on the day, however. The Greek Cosmote, OTE’s mobile unit, dropped 2.4 percent to €19.10 on the news that it has purchased 42 percent of Germanos. Meanwhile, Hellenic Telecommunications (OTE) dropped 1.1 percent to €18.98. Germanos gained 3.2 percent to €18.6 on the news.

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.

European equities markets were up on the week, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gaining 0.8 percent on Friday and the same amount over the week to close at 1,354.22. Much of the gains came from the banking sector , which saw advances amid speculation about more consolidation among Italian banks.

Among the Italian banking sector, Capitalia gained 7.2 percent on the week to €6.85 and Banca Intesa was up 3.7 percent to €5.07 amid rumors that the two institutions were in talks. Elsewhere, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena advanced by 6.3 percent to €4.53 on speculation that it might be a takeover target.

French banks were up as well, with Societe Generale gaining 2.6 percent to €120 on a report that Citigroup could be interested in bidding for the French bank. French investment back was up 6.8 percent to €191.70, also on merger talk.

Franco-Belgian utility Suez was up 9.5 percent on the week to €34.17 as rumors said that Enel could be looking to challenge the merger deal between Suez and Gaz de France.

Finnish pulp and paper group UPM-Kymmene had the best week on the Eurofirst with a gain of 10.5 percent to €19.63 after it revealed a plan to cut jobs and close plants in an effort to increase profits.

German engineering group Linde did almost as well, gaining 10.3 percent to €72.31 when it agreed to purchase BOC group for $14 billion.