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.

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.

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.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the day in positive territory on a late rally. Investors seemed to discount inflation and interest rate worries even though the minutes of the most recent meeting of the US Federal Reserve, released during the day, were taken to mean that US interest rates are likely to rise again when the Fed meets later in the month.

The telecommunications sector was mixed on the day, although there were more gainers than losers. TeliaSonera dropped 4.3 percent to SKr45.80 after it admitted that its chief executive and another company official had been charged with bribery in relation to a product-launch event. Elsewhere in the sector, Dresden Kleinwort Wasserstein suggested that its clients investing in telecoms to leave Telefonica in favor of Telecom Italia. Telefonica still added 0.1 percent to €12.78 and Telecom Italia was up 1.4 percent to €2.215. Belgacom gained 3.4 percent to €25.43 on a target share price increase from €29 to €29.90 from Bear Stearns, which also reconfirmed its “outperform” rating on the company’s shares. France Telecom advanced by 0.7 percent to €17.58.

Banks were also mixed on the day. National Bank of Greece lost 5.8 percent to €31.88 after shareholders gave their approval to a rights issue intended to raise the funds to purchase a stake in Finansbank of Turkey. Another Greek bank, Alpha Bank, also saw declines on the day as it dropped 2.9 percent to €18.96. EFG Eurobank, however, added 0.1 percent to €22.06. Elsewhere, the Bank of Ireland added 5 percent to €14.15 when Lehman Brothers upped its targets share price for the bank from €13.80 to €15.17.

Utilities saw declines after several energy suppliers were raided in an investigation into anti-competitive practices. Eon, one of those utilities targeted in the raids, dropped 0.1 percent to €89.87. Also in Germany, RWE dropped 1.2 percent to €65.85. Gaz de France also declined, by 0.6 percent to €27.16.