European equities markets were higher this week as earnings reports continued to be largely positive and mergers and acquisitions activities continue. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up a bit more than 1 percent during the week to 1,464.19. In France, the CAC-40 added 1.4 percent to 5,447.5, while in Germany the Xetra Dax gained 1.9 percent to 6,357.77.

In the banking sector, Sampo added nearly 11 percent over the week to €18.82 and Danske Bank added 1.5 percent to DKr252 after Sampo agreed to a takeover of its banking unit by Danske, which will pay DKr30.1 billion ($5.2 billion) in cash. Elsewhere in the sector, however, Natexis Banques Populaire dropped 6.1 percent to €209.

Sacyr Vallehermoso added 6 percent on Friday and 13.3 percent during the week to €46.80 on rumors that it has increased its stake in Spanish oil company Repsol to as high as 15.2 percent. The move, which has yet to be confirmed by Sacyr, would make the Spanish construction group Repsol’s largest shareholder. Repsol, meanwhile, was 4.3 percent higher this week to €27.80.

Ryanair added 5.1 percent over the week to €9.42 and rose as high as €9.66, a new record, at one point after it upgraded its full-year target for profits.

Mixed news on the US economy the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lower on Thursday as concerns about that issue outweighed mergers and acquisitions activity in banking. The Eurofirst was 0.2 percent lower to 1,467.27.

Banks were in focus on the session as the sector was mixed on bids and earnings news. Financial services group Sampo added 7.8 percent to €19.08 on the news that it will sell its banking unit, Sampo Bank, to Danske Bank of Denmark for DKr30.1 billion in cash. Danske Bank dropped 4 percent to SKr252 on analyst opinion that it is spending too much to buy Sampo Bank.

Allied Irish Banks were 0.3 percent higher to €21.87 on a report that its Polish division, Zachodni WBK, saw a gain of 29 percent in profits in the third quarter as more people in Poland took out mortgages. Greek bank Piraeus added 1 percent to €23 on upgrades from JP Morgan and Investment Bank of Greece. Investment Bank raised its recommendation of Piraeus from “accumulate” to “buy”, while JP Morgan upped its target share price from €26 to €28, citing its performance in the third quarter. On the other hand, Raiffeisen International dropped 3.2 percent to €86.60 despite a tripling of net profits in the quarter. The decline was due to losses on loans in Russia and Ukraine.

Elsewhere, Belgian brewer Inbev added 2 percent to €46.03 on a third-quarter report of net profits that were 25 percent higher due to growth in eastern Europe and Latin America. The third-quarter figures were higher than had been anticipated.

In the energy sector, Spanish power generator Iberdrola dropped 1.8 percent to €35.46 on the announcement that is thinking of bidding for Scottish Power in the UK.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent to 1,450.5 on Monday’s session as financial sectors saw gains that helped balance out losses in the oil sector.

The banking sector was helped by expectations of good earnings reports as well as by continuing bids rumors. Italian bank UniCredit was 0.8 percent higher to €6.62 and Hypovereinsbank added 1.9 percent to €36.63 on the news that Polish legislators voted on Friday to approve a merger between the two banks. Elsewhere in the sector, Raiffeisen International gained 1.1 percent to €86.95 and Danske Bank was 2 percent higher to DKr246 ahead of next week’s quarterly report. Natexis Banques Populaire gained 3.2 percent to €225.20 on speculation about an upcoming merger.

Airlines did well as oil prices continued to decline. Ryanair was 1.3 percent higher to €8.82, while Air France-KLM gained 2.1 percent to €26.35 and Lufthansa added 2.4 percent to €17.31. The sector was also helped by a 2.9 percent gain in the UK by British Airways on an upgrade from Citigroup.

Dropping oil prices did now, however, give any comfort to the oil sector. Repsol and Royal Dutch Shell each dropped 0.8 percent, to €25.83 and €27.03 respectively. Italian refiner Saras was 1.9 percent lower to €4.06 on a lower target share price from Morgan Stanley, which handed out target downgrades to other companies in the sector as well.

OMV fell 2 percent to €41.25, while Statoil was 2.6 percent lower to NKr166 even though Banc of America upgraded the Norwegian company. In the Greek portion of the sector, Hellenic Petroleum dropped 2.6 percent to €9.84, again on a Morgan Stanley downgrade. Morgan Stanley also reduced Neste Oil’s recommendation, from “overweight” to “equal weight”, sending the Finnish refiner 3 percent lower to €23.30. Norsk Hydro saw the biggest loss in the sector, dropping 4.1 percent to NKr151.50.