Europe’s markets saw gains Thursday.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1 percent to 1,565.18.

Madrid’s IBEX added 1.02 percent to 15,386, while the Dax gained 1.32 percent to 7,932.44 and the Paris CAC-40 jumped 1.51 percent to 5,760.3.

Telecommunications utilities did well on the day after France Telecom (Euronext: FTE; NYSE: FTE) reported that profits were up 4.3 percent and sales added 3.3 percent in the third quarter.

France Telecom was 8.68 percent higher to €25.80 for the best performance on the CAC-40, while Deutsche Telekom (FWB: DT; LSE: DEU; TYO: 9496) had the best day on the Dax with a gain of 4.03 percent to €13.94.

Dresdner Kleinwort raised its recommendation on France Telecom from “hold” to “buy”.

Alstom (Euronext: ALO) added 6.14 percent to €161.36 on a broker upgrade, while Bouygues (Euronext: EN) was 6.12 percent higher to €65.59 after Lehman Brothers began coverage with a rating of “overweight”.

Cosmetics manufacturer L’Oreal (Euronext: OR) had the worst day on the CAC-40, where it dropped 2.27 percent to €89.36 after UBS issued a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” even though L’Oreal said that revenues in the third quarter were up by 7 percent.

Other losers on the session included truck maker Man (FWB: EDF1), which had the worst day on the Dax with a decline of 1.48 perent to €118.79.

Insurer Allianz (FWB: ALV; NYSE: AZ) was 1 percent lower to €150.13, while in the banking sector Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) dropped 0.91 percent to €28.33.

European markets were higher on Thursday’ session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 percent to 1,599.12.

The Paris CAC-40 was 0.42 percent higher to 5,862.83, while the Dax gained 0.59 percent to 8,033.69 and the IBEX jumped 1.59 percent to 15,100.

Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) was the biggest gainer on the Dax, where it added 4.75 percent to €183.60.

Over on the CAC-40, France Telecom (Euronext: FTE; NYSE: FTE) was up 4.24 percent to €24.12 after Telefonica (IBEX-35: TEF) said its divedend would go up.

The steel sector saw gains, with Mittal Steel (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT) adding 1.64 percent to €56.48 and ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) gaining 2.54 percent to €45.18.

Steel products manufacturer Vallourec (Euronext: VK) was 2.64 percent higher to €220.38.

Airlines were mixed on the session.

Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) added 2.36 percent to €21.69, but Air France (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) was down 1.66 percent to €28.39.

Banks were lower.

Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) dropped 0.66 percent to €93.20, while Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was down 0.82 percent to €27.70 and Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) was 0.95 percent lower to €123.70.

L’Oreal (Euronext: OR) had the worst day on the CAC-40, dropping 1.75 percent to €90.71 after it lost a legal action intended to prevent another firm from selling a perfume similar to one of its products.

Meanwhile, software maker SAP (FWB: SAP; NYSE: SAP) was the worst performer on the Dax, falling 1.99 percent to €38.79.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the week 0.5 percent lower than it began, closing at 1,512.70 on Friday. The declines came after posting a six-year closing high on Wednesday.

This is not to say that there were not individual gains on the week. Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia added 7.4 percent on the week to €16.65 on a significant rise in operating profits in 2006. Deutsche Bank upgraded the company to “buy” and raised its target share price to €18.50.

L’Oreal was 7 percent higher to €80.60 after sales were higher than had been expected in the fourth quarter.

Pernod-Ricard gained 7.7 percent during the week to €158 even though broker comments were mixed. Credit Suisse upgraded the drinks company from “under perform” to “neutral” and raised its revenue growth guidance and target share price. UBS, Morgan Stanley, and ING also upped Pernod’s target share price, but ING also reduced its recommendation from “buy” to “hold”, citing valuation concerns.

Among the losers this week was software company SAP, which dropped 5.8 percent to €35.62. Alcatel-Lucent was 10.8 percent lower to €9.99. Airlines also saw losses, with Lufthansa down 6.9 percent to €21.16 and Air France-KLM 7 percent lower to €32.19.

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.