Corporate earnings reports that were not uniformly good hurt European equities markets on Tuesday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropping 0.9 percent to 1,326.70. A losing start on Wall Street did not make things any better for the European exchange.

The banking sector, like the corporate reports, were mixed on the session. Irish banks did fairly well. Allied Irish Banks were up 1.5 percent to €19.22 after it reported that its pre-tax profits were up by 47 percent in the first half of the year. This result helped Bank of Ireland to add 1.2 percent to €7.54. Anglo Irish Bank ended the day even at €11.42. The European banking sector as a whole, however dropped 1.2 percent for the session. Deutsche Bank fell 4.7 percent to €86. While the German bank’s net profit was up 30 percent in the second quarter overall, revenues in its equity investment unit were down by 50 percent.

Among utilities, Gaz de France was 1.7 percent lower to €27.38. Meanwhile, French utility Suez dropped 2.5 percent to €31.65. Suez’s first half sales were up by 10.2 percent, but did not meet predictions.

Ryanair declined by 3.2 percent to €7.54 even though its quarterly profits were up by 80 percent, much more than had been expected. The decline came after the low-cost airline’s chief executive said that the outlook for the rest of the year was “cautious”.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Elan dropped 0.3 percent to €11.69 despite an early gain of more than 3 percent after its latest results showed that losses were down in the second quarter.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the week with a gain of 1.7 percent, to 1,276.32, but over the week it dropped 2.8 percent. Miners, oil companies, and other sectors connected to resources were responsible for much of the declines on the week.

The pharmaceuticals sector was mixed. Irish drugmaker Elan lost almost 17 percent during the week to €12.38 after the US Food and Drug Administration allowed them to return their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri to the shelves, but only as a treatment of last resort after its sales were stopped earlier due to the deaths of some patients taking the drug. With the reintroduction, Elan said that it would increase the price of the drug. Drug companies with rival MS treatments saw gains, however. Schering added 1 percent to €86.25, while Serono was up 3.8 percent to SFr802. Also gaining during the week was Roche, which was up 1.5 percent to SFr194.20 after it announced encouraging test results on three different cancer drugs.

Telecommunications companies were mixed as well. Telecom Italia gained 0.9 percent to €2.24, Belgacom added 1 percent to €25.90, and Telefonica advanced by 1.4 percent to €13. But France Telecom declined by 2.3 percent to €17.29 after it said it would sell its 54 percent share of directory publisher PagesJaunes, which was up 2.5 percent this week to €22.89.

In oil related sectors, Austrian oil prodcuer OMV dropped 15.6 percent during the week to €39.75. Atlas Copco, the Swedish engineering company that works with oil producers, added 4.4 percent to SKr165.50 on Friday, but still declined by 10 percent over the week.

In Europe on Tuesday, equities markets were down on a day when every single sector saw declines in a general sell-off as investors acted on concerns over what they feared might happen to interest rates worldwide. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 declined by 1.9 percent on the day to 1,280.55. In Germany and in France the Xetra Dax and the CAC had each lost over 2 percent by the close.

Ferrovial of Spain was down 4.7 percent to €57.95 on the news that British airports operator had accepted their offer rather than a higher bid from a group led by investment bank Goldman Sachs. The decline came as some analysts expressed the belief that Ferrovial has taken on more than it can handle with the offer. Meanwhile, BAA’s London-listed shares closed below Ferrovial’s bid of 950.25 per share.

Still in aviation-related shares, discount airline Ryanair dropped 1.2 percent to €6.80 despite a full-year earnings report that was a bit better than had been expected. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein reiterated its “buy” recommendation on the air carrier.

European automobile manufacturers saw substantial declines. DaimlerChrysler was down 4.2 percent to €38.33 after Credit Suisse lowered its target share price for the carmaker from €46 to €44. Elsewhere in the sector, Porsche lost 3.4 percent to €748.87, while Fiat dropped 3.3 percent to €10.08 and BMW was 3 percent lower at €37.88.

In the pharmaceutical sector, Irish drug maker Elan lost 16.3 percent to €12.35 after its drug Tysabri, a treatment for multiple sclerosis drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration only for use in patients who have not responded to other treatments. Tysabri was taken off the market last year after some patients being treated with the drug experienced fatal side effects. Serono, the Swiss drug maker, added 1.3 percent on the day to SFr796 on a Bear Stearns comment that it did not see the FDA ruling in Elan’s favor as a threat to Serono’s MS drug, Rebif.