The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.4 percent higher on Thursday, to 1,386.58 as mergers and acquisitions activity, both agreed to and rumored, again was in the spotlight.

The news that Merck will buy a 64.5 percent stake in Serono mobilized the pharmaceuticals sector. Merck, which will spend SFr16.6 billion in the deal, dropped 4.7 percent on the session to €74.65. Serono, however, added 17.6 percent to SFr1,076 on the announcement of the deal. Elsewhere in the sector, Altana gained 1.2 percent to €45.17 after it said it will sell its pharmaceuticals business to Danish company Nycomed. In addition, Sanofi-Aventis was 1.4 percent higher to €69.65.

Bids rumors led to gains in the Swiss specialty chemical sector. On the strength of a rumor that Dow Chemical is thinking of bidding, Ciba gained 2.9 percent to SFr73.60, while Clariant added 3.7 percent to SFr16.90 amid speculation of interest from private equity.

EADS was 2.4 percent lower to €22.26 after it announced yet another delay in delivery of the A380 superjumbo jet. Not all the news for EADS was bad, however, as Lufthansa said it has put in an order for 30 Airbus A320s, a smaller aircraft, and has the option to order an additional 30 planes.

The Norwegian oil sector was lower on recent declines in crude oil prices. Statoil dropped 3.2 percent to NKr155, while Norsk Hydro fell 4 percent to NKr145.

European equities markets saw increases on Monday, primarily on gains in the automobile manufacturing sector. Most brewers were also up, as were some parts of the chemicals industry. Other companies did not fare so well on the day.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,326.87 after a loss of 0.5 percent on Friday. Meanwhile, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax gained 0.5 percent to 5,728.68 and in France the CAC-40 was up 0.3 percent to 4,923.19.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen was up 5.3 percent to €58.33 on the strength of an increased target price of €55, up from €38, by UBS. Porsche was also the recipient of an upgrade, from HVB, to “outperform” from “neutral”, sending its shares up 4.2 percent to €695,50. Porsche’s price target was also raised, from €688 to €718. Renault gained 4.2 percent to €83.05 and BMW gained 2.3 percent to €40.50.

Meanwhile, brewers Heineken and Carlsberg both also received upgrades to “buy” from Merrill Lynch. Heineken gained 2.1 percent on the day to €29.14, while Carlsberg was up 1.9 percent to DKr368. Carlsberg’s joint venture with Scottish & Newcastle as well as its cost-cutting opportunities, were among the reasons for its ratings bump. Bucking the upward trend, Belgian brewer Inbev was down 1.8 percent to €38.59 as Merrill Lynch downgraded it to “sell” on issues related to valuation.

In the chemicals sector, Swiss specialty chems company Clariant was up as much as 10 percent during the day and settled up 2.7 percent to €20.70 on news over the weekend that it is at an advanced stage in sale talks with private-equity firms.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Roche was down 2 percent to SFr188.10 even though it said there would be no financial impact due to its suspension of patient recruitment for trials on Avastin, a colon cancer drug. The suspension was said to be on account of safety concerns.

Norwegian energy group Statoil dropped 3.4 percent to NKr170.50 after it reported that its fourth quarter operating profits were up less than had been anticipated.