In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,545.98, hurt by declines in the banking sector. Brewers saw gains, however, on bids rumors.

With reports circulating that InBev is talking to US brewer Anhauser-Bush, and with analysts giving those rumors a good deal of credibility, the Belgian brewer added 4 percent to €52.80. Other European brewers were helped by the rumors, with Heineken gaining 2.3 percent to €40.26. Carlsberg was 2.7 percent higher to DKr615.

French banks were lower on the session. Societe Generale and BNP Paribas both were hurt by their quarterly reports after Societe Generale reported Wednesday and BNP issued its report today, saying that while net profits were above expectations, operating profits were weaker than had been hoped. SG dropped 1.7 percent to €135 while BNP fell 3.8 percent to €83.70. Elsewhere among French banks, Credit Agricole and Natixis were each 2.6 percent lower, to €32.25 and €21.48.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, DaimlerChrysler was 3.7 percent higher to €53.42 after it announced a restructuring for its US division and said that all options were on the table concerning its US operations, leading some to expect a spin-off or either a partial or full sale of the US unit.

European equities markets were higher this week as earnings reports continued to be largely positive and mergers and acquisitions activities continue. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up a bit more than 1 percent during the week to 1,464.19. In France, the CAC-40 added 1.4 percent to 5,447.5, while in Germany the Xetra Dax gained 1.9 percent to 6,357.77.

In the banking sector, Sampo added nearly 11 percent over the week to €18.82 and Danske Bank added 1.5 percent to DKr252 after Sampo agreed to a takeover of its banking unit by Danske, which will pay DKr30.1 billion ($5.2 billion) in cash. Elsewhere in the sector, however, Natexis Banques Populaire dropped 6.1 percent to €209.

Sacyr Vallehermoso added 6 percent on Friday and 13.3 percent during the week to €46.80 on rumors that it has increased its stake in Spanish oil company Repsol to as high as 15.2 percent. The move, which has yet to be confirmed by Sacyr, would make the Spanish construction group Repsol’s largest shareholder. Repsol, meanwhile, was 4.3 percent higher this week to €27.80.

Ryanair added 5.1 percent over the week to €9.42 and rose as high as €9.66, a new record, at one point after it upgraded its full-year target for profits.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent to 1,450.5 on Monday’s session as financial sectors saw gains that helped balance out losses in the oil sector.

The banking sector was helped by expectations of good earnings reports as well as by continuing bids rumors. Italian bank UniCredit was 0.8 percent higher to €6.62 and Hypovereinsbank added 1.9 percent to €36.63 on the news that Polish legislators voted on Friday to approve a merger between the two banks. Elsewhere in the sector, Raiffeisen International gained 1.1 percent to €86.95 and Danske Bank was 2 percent higher to DKr246 ahead of next week’s quarterly report. Natexis Banques Populaire gained 3.2 percent to €225.20 on speculation about an upcoming merger.

Airlines did well as oil prices continued to decline. Ryanair was 1.3 percent higher to €8.82, while Air France-KLM gained 2.1 percent to €26.35 and Lufthansa added 2.4 percent to €17.31. The sector was also helped by a 2.9 percent gain in the UK by British Airways on an upgrade from Citigroup.

Dropping oil prices did now, however, give any comfort to the oil sector. Repsol and Royal Dutch Shell each dropped 0.8 percent, to €25.83 and €27.03 respectively. Italian refiner Saras was 1.9 percent lower to €4.06 on a lower target share price from Morgan Stanley, which handed out target downgrades to other companies in the sector as well.

OMV fell 2 percent to €41.25, while Statoil was 2.6 percent lower to NKr166 even though Banc of America upgraded the Norwegian company. In the Greek portion of the sector, Hellenic Petroleum dropped 2.6 percent to €9.84, again on a Morgan Stanley downgrade. Morgan Stanley also reduced Neste Oil’s recommendation, from “overweight” to “equal weight”, sending the Finnish refiner 3 percent lower to €23.30. Norsk Hydro saw the biggest loss in the sector, dropping 4.1 percent to NKr151.50.

Despite a round of profit-taking on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was still 0.1 percent higher on the session to close at 1,425.39.

Banks were mixed on the day. Gainers include Italian banks Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI as well as Societe Generale. Intesa and Sanpaolo were both higher after Credit Agricole said that it would support the proposed merger between the two Italian banks. Intesa was 1.3 percent higher to €5.61, while Sanpaolo gained 1.4 percent to €17.91. Societe Generale added 2.5 percent to €129.60.

Credit Agricole itself, however, dropped 5.1 percent to €33.70 on the support announcement and after it said it was thinking about a rights issue worth €4 billion for the first part of next year in order to fund the purchase of 600 Intesa branches. Dresdner Kleinwort, UBS, and ABN Amro all issued downgrades on Agricole.

Other banks seeing declines on the session included Raiffeisen International, which fell 0.6 percent to €88, Erste Bank, down 1.7 percent to €51.09, and Natexis Banque Populaire, which dropped 4.1 percent to €225.

The telecommunications sector saw gains on the day. Ericsson B shares added 4.6 percent to SKr27.30 on the news that its joint venture in the manufacture of handsets with Sony produced double the best estimates of pre-tax profits in the third quarter. Telecom Italia was 4.3 percent higher to €2.33 on a report that a French-Polish financier has purchased shares in the company. Bids rumors sent Deutsche Telekom up 2.6 percent to €12.77.

Banks were in the spotlight in Europe again on Friday, sending the FTSE Eurofirst 300 0.1 percent higher on both the session and the week, to close at 1,359.21.

The major news of the week was a possible merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in Italy. It was learned Friday that the boards of the two banks will meet on Saturday to discuss the possibilities for a deal. Many major shareholders have already expressed approval of the idea, including Credit Agricole, Intesa’s biggest shareholder. Additionally, analysts predicted a minimum of regulatory complications for such a merger. Santander, owner of 8.4 percent of Sanpaolo had no comment, except to say that a sale of its stake would bring it a €1.2 billion capital gain.

Credit Agricole was 1.4 percent higher on the week to €32.44, Intesa gained 6.4 percent to €5.066, and Sanpaolo added 9.4 percent to €16.101. Santander, meanwhile, dropped 0.7 percent to €12.

If the Intesa/Sanpaolo merger materializes, some analysts estimate that up to 300 branches could be sold, with Capitalia and UniCredit as possible purchasers. This news produced mixed results as Capitalia added 5.3 percent to €6.98, but UniCredit declined by 3.4 percent to €6.093.

All of the mergers and acquisitions speculation coming out of Italy heightened talk of takeovers in the wider European banking sector. In France, Natexis Banque Populaires was 2.6 percent higher to €202.30. Commerzbank, a frequent target of takeover speculation, was up 5.3 percent to €27.12.

Despite declines during the week, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed out the week up by 1.2 percent to 1,322.02 thanks to strong rallies in the last two sessions of the week.

The oil sector saw strong gains during the week. OMV added 10.7 percent to €47.05 after it abandoned a merger with electric utility Verbund. Neste Oil was up 8.7 percent to €25.78, Statoil gained 6.5 percent to NKr180, and Norsk Hydro advanced by 6.2 percent to NKr172.

Banks were mixed. Natexis Banques Populaire gained 9.2 percent to €206 as it progressed toward its merger with Ixis. Raiffeisen International, however, ended the week down by 0.5 percent to €67.40 despite the fact that it gained about 15 percent in the final half of the week.

Stock exchanges were lower on the week. Deutsche Borse lost 6.3 percent to €103.80 as it looked like it would not merge with Euronext after all. Euronext, which expressed a preference for a bid by the New York Stock Exchange, dropped 7.2 percent to €69.25.

The steel sector also saw declines during the week. Arcelor was down by 5.1 percent to €33.05 after its announcement of a takeover of Severstal in Russia was perceived as a way to defeat a hostile bid by Mittal Steel. Mittal dropped 1.6 percent on the week to €25.