Profit-taking and not entirely positive corporate earnings reports took the FTSE Eurofirst 300 0.4 percent lower on Monday to close at 1,338.31.

Tiremakers were mixed, with Continental adding 1.8 percent to €80 but Michelin dropping 1.9 percent to €47.56. Credit Suisse upgraded Continental from “neutral” to “outperform” in anticipation of its quarterly report, which is due on Thursday. At the same time, Credit Suisse reduced its earnings estimate for Michelin in both this year and in 2007.

Results in the banking sector were also varied. Greek banks did well. EFG Eurobank added 1.5 percent to €22.02 as it gets ready to release its second-quarter report on Tuesday. Meanwhile, National Bank of Greece was 1.7 percent higher after bank regulators in Turkey approved its acquisition of Finansbank there. Banks in Iceland didn’t do quite so well due to higher inflation and interest rates and a decline in the krona. Landsbanki held steady at IKr20.60, while Kaupthing dropped 0.7 percent to IKr702.

Still in the banking sector, ABN Amro was 2.3 percent lower to €21.67. Even though it said that net profits were up by 23 percent, analysts at both Bear Stearns and at Citigroup pointed out that much of those profits were due to one-time advantages such as favorable tax rates.

Spanish construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso dropped 2.2 percent to €29.95 on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from Citigroup. The broker did, however, raise the builder’s target share price from €30.90 to €32.

In the oil sector, Statoil was 1.9 percent lower to NKr182.50 despite quarterly profits that were higher than expected when it said that it could fall short of full-year production targets for both gas and oil.

In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up a slight 0.1 percent to 1,315.53 after having gone as high as 1,321.01 during the day. Even though the day’s advance was so small, Citigroup issued an over-all positive statement on European equities markets, saying that it expects a slowdown but not a recession, and that while the growth of profits might slow, growth will remain strong.

The European oil sector saw gains on the day. OMV gained 3.2 percent to €47.45 and Statoil was up 4.2 percent to NKr186. Meanwhile, Norsk Hydro added 6.1 percent to NKr173 on a second quarter report that showed operating profits up by 30 percent. Still, Merrill Lynch repeated its “neutral” rating on Norsk due to a weak showing by its aluminium division.

Auto parts manufacturers were mixed on the day. Faurecia was down 0.4 percent to €41.23 after a large decline on Monday. French parts maker Valeo, however, was up 8.6 percent to €27.49 on a profit margin that was up to 4.1 percent in the second quarter, from 2.2 percent in the first quarter. Both manufacturers warned that raw materials prices would have more of an effect in the second half of the year.

Still related to the automobile sector, tire makers Michelin and Continental was advances, as each gained 2.8 percent to €45.19 and €75.72 percent respectively.

Losers on the day included Telecom Italia, which said operating profits were down in the first half. The report resulted in a 2.7 percent fall to €2.098. Also seeing declines was paper products maker SCA, which fell 4.8 percent to SKr301 on lower than expected pre-tax profits in the second quarter.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 2.4 percent this week to 1,313.62, for its best week since January, but it was down by 4.1 percent in the second quarter of 2006. The 300 has added 3 percent since the beginning of the year, but it will need to make up a lot of ground if it is to match its 2005 full-year gain of over 20 percent.

The steel sector saw gains on the week after Arcelor rejected a bid from Severstal, which was seen leaving room for an already-arranged merger with Mittal Steel. Arcelor added 7.8 percent during the week to €37.74. Elsewhere in the sector, ThyseenKrupp gained 3.8 percent to €26.77, while Salzgitter was up 6.9 percent to €66.37. Voestalpine advanced by 7.3 percent to €117.60.

European tiremakers saw declines after Japanese tiremaker Bridgestone of Japan cut its profits estimate for the year. Michelin was down 1.3 percent on the week to €47, while Continental fell 1.6 percent to €79.92.

Danish shipper AP Moller-Maersk declined by 5.2 percent to DKr45,400 on a reduced profits forecast for the year due to sub-par performance in its container shipping unit.

Bayer added 4.5 percent on Friday and 8.4 percent on the week to €35.94 after it said that it will sell part of its diagnostics unit to Siemens, which added 0.8 percent on the day Friday and 0.2 percent during the week to €68.03. Several banks either upgraded or reiterated their positive recommendations for Bayer during the week.

Continuing worries about interest rates around the world sent European equities markets lower on Tuesday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.7 percent to 1,269.90.

The oil sector saw substantial gains, however, as crude oil prices began to rise again. Eni gained 2.1 percent to €22.53, while OMV added 3.7 percent to €44.40 and Statoil was up 4.8 percent to NKr175.

Utilities were down during the day. Suez was down 0.4 percent to €30.30 even though UBS raised its recommendation on the company from “neutral” to “buy”. Gaz de France, meanwhile, was 0.6 percent lower to €25.55. The French government has postponed the bill that would allow the merger between Suez and Gaz de France until September. Meanwhile Enel, the Italian utility, dropped by 1.1 percent to €6.575. Some analysts believe that Enel is considering a bid for Suez.

Shipper AP Möller-Maersk B shares were the biggest decliners of the day, falling 9.3 percent to DKr43,000 on a reduced profits forecast for 2006 on disappointing growth in its container shipping unit. German tourist and shipping group Tui dropped 3.6 percent to €14.96 despite maintaining its full-year predictions for its container division.

European tire manufacturers were down after Japanese tire maker Bridgestone cut its profits forecast for this year by 35 percent because the cost of raw materials has risen. Michelin declined by 2.6 percent to €45.82, while Continental fell 2.9 percent to €77.51.

The European equities markets saw early gains disappear on Tuesday as declines in the automobile manufacturing and oil sectors overcame advances in the telecommunications and other sectors.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.6 percent to 1,325.46, while the Xetra Dax was down 0.2 percent to 5,743.04 in Frankfurt. In Paris, the CAC-40 fell 0.6 percent to 4,929.97. Meanwhile, in early trade London’s FTSE 100 had fallen 0.3 percent, although the New York markets were up a bit.

France Telecom announced that its full-year underlying earnings were up 2.8 percent to €18.42 billion, around what had been forecast. In addition, the company said it will speed up its restructuring, including jobs cuts of 17,000 jobs around the world. This news sent the telecommunications company’s shares up 3.1 percent to €19.19.

Also up on positive earnings news was Electrolux, the world’s largest home appliance manufacturer. The Swedish company gained 3.8 percent to SKr217 as it announced that its fourth-quarter underlying pre-tax earnings were SKr1.86 billion, higher than forecasts of SKr1.49 billion and up from the previous quarter’s SKr1.36 billion.

The auto sector, including both carmakers and associated industries, were down on the day. Volkswagen was down 1.4 percent to €57.46, while BMW fell 1.9 percent to €39.84 and Renault dropped 2.6 percent to €81.70. Meanwhile, tyre makers Michelin and Continental were both down on the day, by 5.7 percent and 2.4 percent respectively. Michelin was trading at €51.60 and Continental’s price fell to €84.31.

In the oil sector, Neste Oil declined by 5.8 percent to €22.56, while OMV was down 4 percent to €51.26 on falling crude oil prices.