The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up significantly on Thursday, adding 1.8 percent to close the session at 1,503.93.

Banks were higher on bids rumors and broker comments. After Dresdner Kleinwort implied that there was a possibility of merger activity in the Spanish banking sector, Santander and BBVA were both higher. Santander added 1.3 percent to €14.30, while BBVA gained 1.7 percent to €18.73. Swedbank as 5.2 percent higher to SKr262.50 when UBS repeated its “buy” recommendation and upped its target share price from SKr265 to SKr300.

Stock exchanges also did well on the session. Euronext added 3.8 percent to €98.50 on approval of its plans to merge with the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, Deutsche Borse gained 6.3 percent to €150.20 on talk that it could also merge with an exchange operator in the US. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange has been mentioned as a possible merger partner.

Roche was 2 percent higher to SFr230.70 on higher profits in the fourth quarter by Genentech, in which the Swiss pharmaceutical company is majority stockholder. Genentech’s fourth quarter profits were up 75 percent on demand for its cancer drugs and higher sales of a new treatment for blindness in older patients.

In the aerospace sector, EADS added 0.8 percent to €25.26 even though UBS reduced its recommendation from “neutral” to “sell” and warned that shareholders earnings could be diluted by a possible equity issue by the company.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.7 percent higher on Tuesday to close at 1,402.38, its highest finish since early May.

The MAN/Scania story continued to unfold. Volkswagen added 1.3 percent to €68.85 after it announced that it had purchased 15.06 percent of MAN. VW said that it was a “strategic” acquisition but that it has no intention to take over the truck manufacturer, which made a bid for Swedish truck maker Scania last month. Scania, meanwhile, said that VW’s purchase put the proposed deal in a new light, but did not elaborate, while Investor, which also owns part of Scania, said it knew that VW had planned to purchase shares in MAN. The news sent Investor B shares 2 percent higher to SKr155 and Scania B shares were up 5.2 percent to SKr462. MAN, however, dropped 7.5 percent to €68.44.

Banks were higher as there were rumors of consolidation within the sector, spurred by French reports that Citigroup was looking at several European banks for possible takeover bids. BNP Paribas, which added 2.3 percent to €86, was mentioned as one of the potential targets. Other possible targets named were Societe Generale and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, which each added 2.4 percent to €125.90 and €18.50 respectively. Citibank had no comment on the rumors.

In the aerospace sector, EADS ended the session 4.2 percent lower to €21.71, and was down as much as 13 percent earlier in the day, after it announced yet another delay before it will be able to deliver its new A380 superjumbo jet. The airplane manufacturer also issued a profit warning. The news triggered a downgrade from Credit Suisse from “neutral” to “under perform”, while UBS lowered its recommendation from “buy” to “neutral”. Both brokers also lowered their target share prices on EADS.