European markets were higher on the session Wednesday.

The Eurofirst 300 gained 1.57 percent to 1,505.51.

In Madrid the IBEX added 0.84 percent to 14,359.2, while the Dax was 1.02 percent higher to 7,500.48 in Frankfurt and the Paris CAC-40 was up 1.83 percent to 4,418.17 and had no losers on the day.

The biggest gainer on the day in Paris was construction group Vinci (Euronext: DG), which added 6.41 percent to €51.

Buoygues (Euronext: EN), which has interests in both construction and media, gained 4.05 percent to €53.93.

The steel sector was also higher.

ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) was 2.14 percent higher to €41.92, while Mittal Steel (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT) was up 4.98 percent to €44.45.

In addition Vallourec (Euronext: VK), which manufactures steel products, was up 4.47 percent to €190.71.

In the semiconductors sector Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) gained 2.76 percent to €11.17 on the news that it is looking to buy.

Among airlines, Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) added 2.29 percent to €20.64, while Air France (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) was up 3.82 percent to €29.38.

Fresenius Medical Care (FWB: FREG) was the biggest decliner on the Dax, dropping 1.89 percent to €34.85.

Other decliners included utility RWE (FWB: RWE), which fell 0.44 percent to €80.65.

Software maker SAP (FWB: SAP; NYSE: SAP) was 0.21 percent lower to €38.71.

Banks were higher in Europe on Tuesday after brokers had positive comments and merger news was in focus. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.3 percent to 1,543.04, another new six-year peak.

Besides banks, there were also gains in the medical care sector. Fresenius Medical Care, the German dialysis provider, added 6.2 percent to €110.08, a new record high, after a provision in the 2008 US budget submitted by President George W. Bush was said to seek an extension of the time private insurance has to pay for kidney dialysis before Medicare will pay for the procedure. Not all analysts were sure, however, that the budget provision, which still has to be passed by Congress, was enough to justify such a gain. Fresenius, the parent company of FMC, was also up, gaining 3.9 percent to €56.23.

In the energy sector, Eon added 1.6 percent to €110.70 after Goldman Sachs upped its recommendation to “buy” as it looked more and more as if the German company’s bid for Endsea would be successful. Endsea dropped 0.7 percent to €37.85.

Among banks Millennium BCP added 1.8 percent to €2.88 as it looked less likely that it would take over Banco Portugues de Investimento after a report that the Bank of Portugal had given approval for German insurer Allianz to add to its stake in BPI, raising its holding from 8.8 percent to 19.9 percent. Allianz gained 0.1 percent on the news, while BPI was 1.3 percent higher to €6.35.