Profit-taking sent European equities markets lower on Tuesday after Monday’s advances. Also helping the losses were weaker than expected earnings reports and downgrades from brokers. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.4 percent lower to 1,378.98.

In the banking sector, Anglo Irish Bank declined by 3.1 percent to €12.69 after a trading update that disappointed. Elsewhere in the sector, Deutsche Postbank was 1.6 percent lower to €60.60 on a downgrade from “hold” to “reduce” and a lowering of its target share price from Dresdner Kleinwort. Credit Agricole was 0.8 percent higher to €31.94 after it made an offer on Monday for the shares it does not already own in Greek insurer Phoenix Metrolife. Emporiki Bank added 1.9 percent on the news. Phoenix Metrolife is a division of Emporiki.

Insurer Alleanza declined by 3.4 percent to €9.263 after it reported that both revenue and premium income had dropped in the first half. This worried investors even though net profits were up by 28 percent. The Italian bank also said that it would not return cash to shareholders as planned. Generali, which controls Alleanza, were 0.5 percent lower to €29.34.

In the telecommunications sector, Nokia dropped 1.6 percent to €15.78 even though traders tended not to believe talk that the company will soon issue a profit warning.

Advances in technology stocks and the banking sector took the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up by 2.2 percent on Wednesday to 1,299.19. It was the first day of gains after four consecutive days of losses for the 300.

In Italy, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was 4.4 percent higher to €4.54 as new rumors circulated that Sanpaolo IMI might be interested in offering. Sanpaolo added 2.8 percent to €13.68. Nordea added 5.5 percent to SKr85.75 after it released a more positive quarterly report than had been expected. Credit Agricole was up 5.6 percent to €30.15 on the possibility that it would be the only bidder for Emporiki Bank of Greece, which dropped 3.7 percent to €25. Bank of Cyprus was rumored to be considering pulling out of the bidding over difficulties involving pension costs; it added 8.8 percent on the session to €7.14.

Among telecommunications companies, Nokia was 5.4 percent higher to €15.56 on an upgrade by Lehman Brothers, from “equal weight” to “overweight”, ahead of its quarterly report, due later in the day. Meanwhile, Ericsson gained 6.9 percent to SKr23.20 on news that it has secured a contract to build a GSM network for Brazilian telecom Vivo.

In the semiconductor sector, Infineon was up 3.2 percent to €8.73, while STMicroelectronics gained 4.9 percent to €12.35 and ASML advanced by 6.4 percent to €15.80 on record net profits in the second quarter.

European equities markets were lower on Monday on fears that interest rates in the region could go up more than previously expected. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,278.91.

The banking sector was mixed on the day. Credit Agricole said that it would not raise its bid for Greek bank Emporiki even though the Bank of Cyprus was reported to have submitted a higher offer than Agricole’s. Agricole dropped 0.4 percent to €28.30 and Alpha Bank, also thought to be interested in bidding for Emporiki, was down 1.1 percent to €18.80. Meanwhile, Bank of Cyprus added 1.6 percent to €7.34. Emporiki remained even at €27.48.

Elsewhere among banks, Piraeus Bank gained 3.5 percent to €18.66 after it became known that it had increased its stake in Bank of Cyprus from 5.99 percent to 6.4 percent and rumors began to circulate that Piraeus was thinking about bidding for Bank of Cyprus. EFG Eurobank dropped 1.7 percent to €21.10, while National Bank of Greece ended down 1.8 percent to €28.08.

In the steel sector, Arcelor was up 7.9 percent to €37.80 and Mittal Steel dropped 3.7 percent to €24.38 after Arcelor agreed to a new offer from Mittal which was 43 percent higher than its January bid. The newly formed company will have to divest itself of some holdings to satisfy regulatory rules. Salzgitter, which is known to be interested in Arcelor’s European holdings, added 1.9 to €63.25. On the other hand, ThyssenKrupp dropped 2.6 percent to €25.13 on concerns that its deal with Mittal to purchase US company Dofasco could be abandoned due to opposition from Arcelor.

EADS added 3.3 percent to €22.75 after the French government conceded that the aerospace firm’s governance structure should be set by its industrial partners, DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere. The French had previously asked for more influence over the company after EADS said that deliveries of its new A380 super jumbo jet will be delayed.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up on Wednesday, but by only 0.3 points to 1,276.47 after being in negative territory for most of the session.

The banking sector was mixed. Deutsche Bank added 0.6 percent to €84.61 when it said that it had prevailed in a bidding war for Berliner Bank and will buy it for €681 billion. The Bank of Cyprus lost 7.6 percent to €3.99 when it announced that it will enter the bidding war for Greek bank Emporiki. The loss came as investors wondered how Bank of Cyprus will fund its offer, which must exceed Credit Agricole’s all cash bid of €3.1 billion. Emporiki dropped 0.4 percent to €27.20. Alpha Bank, also said to be thinking about bidding for Emporiki, lost 3.5 percent to €19.24. Meanwhile, the National Bank of Greece was down 3.9 percent to €27.10 on the aftereffects of a €3 billion cash call to fund its purchase of Finansbank of Turkey.

Aerospace group EADS was down 2.5 percent on the day to €20.92 when the prime minister of France said that the state wishes to exert more control over the company in the wake of announced delays in delivery of its new A380 superjumbo jet.

The automobile manufacturing sector saw losses over the day after declines by US companies Ford and General Motors. Peugeot fell 2.3 percent to €48.25 on comments from Oddo Securities that the carmaker could miss its first-half target for an operating profit margin of 2.8 percent. Volkswagen and Renault also saw declines, as VW lost 1.9 percent to €52.68 and Renault dropped 1.2 percent to €84.65.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down for the day on Friday as well as lower for the week as a whole. The 300 lost 0.6 percent on the day to 1,260.8, a loss of 1.2 percent during the week as investors seemed to ignore positive economic data.

In the telecommunications sector, Telefonica declined by 1.6 percent to €12.79, while TeliaSonera dropped 10.9 percent to SKr40.00 after it made public plans to enter the Spanish mobile phone market.

Aircraft manufacturer EADS lost 24.7 percent to €20.00 after it said it would lose €2 billion in profits in the next four years due to delays in delivery of the new Airbus A380 superjumbo jet. Further hurting the company, some executives had to admit mistakes in selling shares just weeks before the delays were made known to the public.

In the banking sector, Credit Agricole added 0.1 percent to €28.02 after offering for Greek bank Emporiki, which added 12.2 percent to €26.30 on news of the bid.

Pharmaceuticals were mixed. Bayer added 0.6 percent to €33.31 after it triumphed over Merck in a bidding battle for Schering and received an upgrade from “hold” to “add” from WestLB. Merck dropped 0.2 percent to €73.80, while Schering was up 3.4 percent to €89.14.

European equities did a bit better on Wednesday, despite new data on prices out of the US that only served to heighten worries that inflation is getting out of hand. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.1 percent by the end of the trading day to 1,240.15.

Banking and finance was mixed on mergers and acquisitions issues. After Credit Suisse said that it would sell its Winterthur insurance business to French insurer Axa, Credit Suisse gained 1.4 percent to SFr63.70 but Axa dropped 1.8 percent to €23.87. Meanwhile, Greek bank Emporiki added 1.8 percent to €25.24 as investors hoped for another bid after Greece’s finance minister made the comment that it should not be too quick to accept Credit Agricole’s bid. Agricole, meanwhile, was up 2.1 percent to €27.33.

The pharmaceuticals sector also saw maneuvering around bids issues. Bayer added 6.9 percent to €32.66 when competitor Merck took itself out of the bidding for German healthcare group Schering. Schering gained 2.1 percent to €89.00, while Merck was up 6 percent to €72.58 as investors anticipated a possible special dividend.

On the negative side of the ledger, airplane manufacturer EADS lost 26.3 percent to €18.73 after announcing that delays in deliveries of the Airbus A380 superjumbo jet would cost it €2 billion next year and that in view of the delays, it would allow buyers to walk away from orders they had already placed. In consequence, Deutsche Bank issued a downgrade on EADS from “buy” to “hold” and revised its target share price downward from €33 to €26. WestLB, on the other hand, upgraded the aircraft maker to “buy”.

European equities markets were down on Tuesday as investors continued to worry about the possibility of more hikes in interest rates and how such increases would impact global economic growth. The Eurofirst 300 was down 2.1 percent to 1,238,73. It has dropped 11.9 percent since it reached its peak for the year on May 9, and is nearly 3 percent lower than it was at the beginning of 2006. Contributing to the declines were losses in the oil and steel sectors.

In the steel sector, ThyssenKrupp was down 3.5 percent to €23.26, while Salzgitter dropped 5.9 percent to €55.75 and Rautaruukki fell 7.6 percent to €19.43. In the oil sector, Norsk Hydro was down 5.6 percent to NKr144.

Stock exchange operators were also down on the day. Deutsche Borse fell 5.3 percent to €94.41 after a report that it was getting ready to add to the cash portion of its offer for Euronext. Euronext, meanwhile, declined by 7.9 percent to €63.90 after shares in the New York Stock Exchange dropped for two straight sessions, sending the value of its offer in cash and shares for Euronext lower.

Among banks, Credit Agricole was down 3.2 percent to €26.77 after it made a bid for Greek bank Emporiki, which added 5.8 percent on the announcement of the offer. Elsewhere, Austrian bank Raiffeisen International declined by 5.7 percent to €58.10.