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 lower on Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,484.28.

Despite the declines, there were some significant gains among individual stocks. Swiss reinsurer Converium added 8.8 percent to SFr18.65 after bids rumors and analyst opinion that it would be a good takeover target. Paris Re was said to be one possible interested party. Elsewhere among financial sectors, Swiss private bank EFG International was 0.9 percent higher to SFr42.90 after it said it will purchase PRS Group, a wealth manager based in Miami. EFG was also helped by positive comments from Bear Stearns.

In technology sectors, German software group SAP added 3.4 percent to €42.20 as ABN Amro issued a “buy” recommendation and investors expected good news when fourth-quarter sales data is released. Meanwhile, in the semiconductors sector, ST Microelectronics gained 2.8 percent to €14.53.

German industrial gases group Linde added 3.2 percent to €80.15 when it said it will sell a Polish business to a US company. Linde was also helped when Goldman Sachs European added the chems company to its conviction buy list.

Among losers on the session was EADS, which dropped 1.4 percent to €25.34. It received an order from Air Asia for 50 new planes, but the announcement came in too late to affect Monday’s trade.

In Europe on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.9 percent to 1,229.21.

The banking sector was responsible for 41 percent of the index’s advance. Insurers and automobile manufacturers also did well.

DaimlerChrysler gained 1.7 percent to €45.65 ahead of an expected announcement of 5,000 to 8,000 jobs to be cut. Helped by a stronger dollar, BMW was up 1.3 percent to €38.90, Peugeot rose by 2.7 percent to €57.40, and Renault added 3.2 percent to €79.65. Volkswagen was up 1.9 percent to €38.30. Bucking the sector trend, Porsche lost 3.6 percent on the day to €642.29 as investors were still not sure they liked the carmaker’s plan to buy 20 percent of VW.

In the insurance sector, Munich Re gained 1.7 percent to €94.71 as it announced its estimate of its loss burden related to both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. Swiss reinsurer Converium gained 1.2 percent to SFr12.95, also after it released estimated hurricane-related losses. Allianz gained 4 percent to €111.40 on an upgrade of its rating from “hold” to “buy” by Deutsche Bank, which also upped the insurer’s price target from €115 to €127.

In the banking sector, Vienna-listed Raiffeisen International gained 7.6 percent to €53.52 on an initial “buy” rating from UBS. BNP Paribas received an upgrade from “in-line” to “outperform” from Goldman Sachs, gaining 2.4 percent to €62.60. BNP Paribas rival Societe Generale gained 1.7 percent to €94.80 after BNP’s chief executive said a merger between the two was not likely.

Elsewhere in the sector, Credit Agricole gained 3.4 percent to €24.45, Deutsche Bank added 2.6 percent to €77.85, and Commerzbank also rose 2.6 percent to €22.82.