European markets were lower on Monday as the subprime crisis continued to cause disturbances.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.32 percent to 1,487.28.

In Frankfurt, the Dax was 0.24 percent lower to 7,479.83, while Madrid’s IBEX fell 1.18 percent to 13,696.9 and the Paris CAC-40 was down 1.8 percent to 5,439.37.

There were only four gainers on the CAC-40, led by eyeglass lens and frame maker Essilor International (Euronext: EF), which gained 0.53 percent to €43.58.

Drinks group Pernod-Ricard was up 0.23 percent to €152.90.

The other two gainers were both utilities.

Suez (Euronext: SZE; NYSE: SZE) added 0.15 percent to €38.90 and EDF (Euronext: EEN) was 0.46 percent higher to €74.14.

Utilities also saw gains on the Dax, where Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) gained 0.72 percent to €127.11 and RWE (FWB: RWE) was up 1.5 percent to €83.68.

The best performer on the Dax was stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse, which added 2.73 percent to €82.47.

Big decliners included, in Paris, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687) with a drop of 5.23 percent to €6.16 and financial planner MLP (FWB: MLP), which fell 3.66 percent to €10.37.

Others seeing declines included Deutsche Post (FWB: DPW; LSE: DPO) with a decline of 1.33 percent to €20.84.

Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) dropped 2.05 percent to 88.22.

Schneider Electric (Euronext: SCHN) was 5.02 percent lower to €87.83, while STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) fell 3.08 percent to €11.66.

European markets were higher on the session, more than making up Monday’s declines.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1.71 percent to 1,507.29.

The Dax was up 1.12 percent to 7,457.9 in Frankfurt, while the Paris CAC-40 gained 1.72 percent to 5,478.94 and Madrid’s IBEX was 1.74 percent higher to 13,965.5.

The CAC-40 and the Dax each only saw two stocks decline on the day.

In Paris, Air France (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) was 0.07 percent lower to €27.73, while Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687) was the worst performer there with a decline of 0.54 percent to €7.30.

In Frankfurt, meanwhile, pharmaceuticals group Schering (FWB: SCH) dropped 0.09 percent to €104.46. Deutsche Post (FWB: DPW; LSE: DPO) had the worst day on the Dax as it fell 0.19 percent to €20.89.

The best performer on the Dax was stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (FWB: DB1), which added 3.83 percent to €78.96.

Meanwhile power generator and manufacturer Alstom (Euronext: ALO) did the best on the CAC-40, where it gained 6.47 percent to €136.06.

Steel-related shares did well in Paris.

Mittal Steel (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT) was 3.35 percent higher to €46.64, while steel products manufacturer Vallourec (Euronext: VK) was up 4.22 percent to €184.31.

Carmakers saw gains.

BMW (FWB: BMW) gained 2.14 percent to €35.62, while Renault (Euronext: RNO) added 3.43 percent to €92.80.

Chemicals group Altana (FWB: ALT; NYSE: AAA) was 2.15 percent higher to €17.60.

The European markets saw significant declines on Tuesday.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.4 percent to 1,587.23.

The least of the losers in terms of percentage was the IBEX, which was down 0.98 percent to 14,909.7 in Madrid.

In Paris the CAC-40 was 1.69 percent lower to 5,907.47, while the Dax fell 1.73 percent to 7,806.79 in Frankfurt.

Car and truck manufacturers were among the few gainers on the session.

In Paris, Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) added 0.75 percent to €65.59 for the best performance of the day on the CAC-40.

Meanwhile truck maker Man (FWB: EDF1) had the best day on the Dax as it added 1.54 percent to €109.02.

Still, the sector remained mixed with BMW (FWB: BMW) down 2.18 percent to €38.15.

Insurers had the worst day on both the Dax and the CAC-40.

In Frankfurt Allianz (FWB: ALV; NYSE: AZ) dropped 2.44 percent to €164.07, while in Paris Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) fell 3.27 percent to €30.50.

Utilities were also lower, with Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) down 2.12 percent to €120.03 and Suez (Euronext: SZE; NYSE: SZE) closing at €40.33, a decline of 2.58 percent.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) was 2.63 percent lower to €13.71, while among oil companies Total (Euronext: FP; NYSE: TOT) fell 2.28 percent to €59.17.

Deutsche Post (FWB: DPW; LSE: DPO) was down 2.26 percent to €22.07 after a report that United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) has seen strong growth internationally.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed at its highest level in six years when it added 0.6 percent on Friday to end the session at 1,519.81.

The week saw big gains in more than one sector.  Deutsche Borse added 10.4 percent on the week to a record share price of €164.30, with one analyst saying that estimates of the stock exchange operator’s earnings growth for the year, at 10 percent, were conservative.

In the construction sector, consolidation possibilities brought big advances.  The news that holding company Artemis had purchased a 5.1 percent stake in French company Vinci sent Vinci’s shares 8.4 percent higher to €104.90.  In Spain, meanwhile, Sacyr-Vallehermoso added 10.2 percent to €48.32.

Deutsche Post gained 7.2 percent on the week to €23.98 on rumors that a private equity group was looking to buy at least part of the 30.6 percent stake owned by the German government, despite predictions of union and political opposition to such a bid.

In the Swedish banking sector, Nordea added 2.2 percent to SKr110.60 and SEB gained 7.5 percent to SKr237.00 on renewed rumors that the two banks could merge.

On the negative side, EADS dropped 2.7 percent during the week, to €24.39, after the aerospace firm issued its second profits warning in four months.  In the French energy sector, Suez was 5.8 percent lower to €38.01 after a withdrawn bid for the company, while Gaz de France dropped 6 percent to €33.73.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent on the session Wednesday to close at 1,510.37.

A major factor in the 300’s decline was yet another profits warning from EADS, its second in four months. The aerospace giant was 2.8 percent lower to €25.01 after some one-time costs that were expected to be on the books in 2007 were charged in 2006 instead.

In the telecommunications sector, Telefonica dropped 0.9 percent to €16.70 on a downgrade from UBS, which reduced its recommendation from “neutral” to “reduce”. UBS cited profitability concerns due to increased competition for the Spanish telecom in both its fixed-line and mobile units. Still, UBS held its target share price for Telefonica at €15.70.

Not all the news was bad, however. ASML added 8.4 percent to €20.39 after the maker of chip manufacturing equipment said that sales would be up next year. The company also announced plans for a further share buy-back.

Deutsche Post was also higher, gaining 2.4 percent to €23.66 on rumors that private equity group Blackstone is attempting to purchase part of the 30.6 percent share of the company now held by the German state bank.

Bids rumors also helped the airlines sector as the Italian government gets ready to get rid of its 49 percent stake in Alitalia. The rumors centered on Air France-KLM because the head of that airline recently resigned from the Alitalia board, which has lead some analysts to believe that Air France is preparing a bid. Air France was 0.5 percent higher to €34.31, while Alitalia gained 2.6 percent to €1.06.

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.

Banks were mixed on Monday in Europe as mergers and acquisition talk carried over from last week. Meanwhile, gains in technology stocks helped lead the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up by 0.4 percent to 1,364.89. Oil companies were down as crude oil prices fell again.

European oil companies were lower after crude oil prices fell on a reduced chance that there would be any damage to oil interests in the Gulf of Mexico from the current storm in the region. Norsk Hydro was 0.9 percent lower to NKr167, while Statoil dropped 1.1 percent to NKr174.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics added 1.4 percent to €12.70. Infineon gained 2 percent to €9.03.

Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI were down slightly after last week’s gains on the strength of a proposed merger as shareholders began to have doubts about the deal worked out by the boards of the two banks in a Saturday meeting. Sanpaolo was 1.4 percent lower to €15.87, while Intesa dropped 1.6 percent to €4.99.

Spanish bank Santander, which owns 8.4 percent of Sanpaolo, added 0.7 percent to €12.08. Meanwhile, it was said that Credit Agricole, which owns almost 18 percent of Intesa, was trying to set terms for the deal, especially surrounding the issue of branches to be sold after any merger. Agricole added 1 percent to €32.75.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Deutsche Postbank was 3.1 percent higher to €62.01 after it was said that Deutsche Post was ready to sell its 50.1 percent holding. On speculation that Deutsche Bank might be interesting in buying, Deutsche Bank added 0.4 percent to €89.02. Deutsche Post gained 2.5 percent to €19.57 on the speculation.

Greek banks, however, were down on the day after a terrorist attack at a Turkish coastal resort. A number of Greek banks have holdings in Turkish banks. EFG Eurobank, which owns EFG Istanbul Securities, and Alpha Bank each dropped 1.2 percent to €23.98 and €20.86 respectively. National Bank of Greece, which finalized its purchase of Finansbank of Turkey just last week, declined by 1.8 percent to €30.50.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.2 percent to 1,366.30, a new four and a half year high, on Tuesday, largely on advances in the automobile manufacturing sector.

BMW added 2.9 percent to €41.87 after having gone as high as €42.57 earlier in the day. The gain came after UBS upgraded the company’s shares to “buy” from “neutral” and increased its target share price to €49, up from €37. Elsewhere in the sector, Volkswagen was up 2.7 percent to €57.66 and Peugeot gained 3.6 percent to €49.77.

Mergers and acquisitions were still on the agenda. In the banking sector, Millennium BCP, Portugal’s largest publicly traded bank, gained 4.5 percent to €2.54 on a largely positive response to its bid for Banco BPI, a smaller competitor. BPI’s shares dropped 2.8 percent to €5.68 on the news.

Stock market operator Euronext reported slightly higher than expected profits in 2005 and said it was interested in merging with Deutsche Borse. Euronext’s shares dropped 1.1 percent on the news, to €60.95, while Deutsche Borse gained 2.1 percent to €114.20.

Elsewhere, Deutsche Post was down 7.1 percent to €21.11 as it warned that its express courier service in the US could lose more money and predicted that group operating profits in 2006 would be flat.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 percent to 1,339.02. That was its highest close in over 4 years. At least part of the day’s advance was due to favorable earnings reports in several sectors.

In the banking sector, Societe Generale reported a higher than predicted rise in fourth-quarter profits, which it said were up by 42 percent due to higher revenues in its investment and banking units. This news saw its shares rise 4 percent to €118. Meanwhile, Zurich Financial Services gained 6.1 percent to SFr314 on a reported rise in full-year profits last year and predictions that the trend will continue this year. Also in Switzerland, Julius Baer gained 9.3 percent on the day to SFr112 after it said that outflows had slowed due to smaller than predicted withdrawals by clients unhappy with corporate moves last year.

In the telecommunications sector, Telnor of Norway announced a jump in fourth-quarter profits due to strength in its international subsidiaries. This included a doubling of revenues in its majority-owned Ukranian company Kyivstar. Telnor’s shares saw a 4.4 percent gain on the day to NKr71.25.

Cosmetics company L’Oreal was up 1 percent to €69.60 on news that it had its twenty-first consecutive yearly rise in profits. However, some analysts were worried that the profits had been achieved by cutting advertising and promotion, which was called unhealthy for the company’s long-term prospects.

Not all positive earnings reports translated into gains in share price on the day, however. Although its luxury Mercedes unit helped DaimlerChrysler beat fourth-quarter earnings predictions, the carmaker saw its shares decline 3.5 percent on the day to €48.33.

Other losers on the day included Deutsche Post, which dropped 2.2 percent to €22.08 on disappointing full-year earnings news and a downgrade from Deutsche Bank from “buy” to “hold”. Autostrade, the largest toll road operator in Italy, lost 0.8 percent to €22.18 on a warning that its estimates of the increase in traffic volume on its roads in 2005 had been significantly higher than actual traffic increases.