In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was nearly steady, losing only 0.21 points to end the session at 1,513.31 as big losses for Alcatel-Lucent balanced gains in other sectors.

Alcatel-Lucent dropped 8.5 percent to €10.02 after having lost as much as 12 percent in earlier trade. The manufacturer of telecommunications equipment issued a profits and revenues warning for the fourth quarter. The company said adjusted revenues will be around €4.4 billion, significantly lower than last year’s €5.25 billion. Operating revenues, which were expected to show a profit of €539 million will, the company said, manage to just break even.

The automobile and truck manufacturing sector saw gains when German truck maker MAN said it will abandon its hostile takeover bid for Scania and instead try to negotiate a friendly merger. Scania’s B shares added 1.1 percent to SKr645 after dropping as low as SKr441 earlier in the session, while MAN gained 2.3 percent to €75.79. Volkswagen, which is the largest shareholder in both Scania and MAN, was 0.4 percent higher to €84.67.

In the media sector, Dutch television producer Endemol ended the session 1.6 percent higher to €20.65. Its share price was as high as €22.74 after it was reported that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. wanted to purchase the 75 percent stake of Endemol that Telefonica owns, but pulled back to its closing level after News Corp denied the rumors.

Luxury goods makers were mixed. Despite reporting a 10 percent gain in sales in the quarter, Richemont dropped 3.6 percent to SFr70. Swatch, on the other hand added 1.8 percent to SFr292.75.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was lower on Thursday, losing early gains after the New York markets were weaker in early trade. The 300 closed at 1,509.47, a decline of 0.1 percent on the session.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw declines. Novartis dropped 1.4 percent to SFr72.60 even though it reported record sales and profits in its full-year results when its outlook for the new year didn’t please investors. Merck, meanwhile, was 1.9 percent lower to €88.04 even though it said its operating profits were up by 58 percent in the fourth quarter.

Allianz dropped 1.9 percent to €151.68 on its offer to buy the 42.2 percent of French insurer AGF that it does not already own. The deal, which had been expected, involves €7.5 billion in cash and €2.3 billion in shares. Some shareholders would have preferred that the German insurer buy back its own shares. AGF added 0.2 percent to € on the news.

In the telecommunications sector, KPN gained 2.7 percent to €11.67 when Goldman Sachs put the Dutch company on its European buy list.

Endemol added 0.2 percent to €19.22 after JP Morgan said that Telefonica will soon sell its 75 percent stake in the Dutch television production company. Some analysts said that the share price could be driven higher than it might have otherwise been due to increased ratings for Endemol’s “Big Brother” reality show. The higher ratings have been generated by recent controversy over the show.