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.

European equities markets saw gains on Thursday as many of the stocks that have seen the biggest losses have turned around to see substantial gains. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 2.3 percent on the day to 1,268.44.

Automobile manufacturers were up on the day after new data on car registrations in Europe was released. BMW added 3.3 percent to €37.75, while Fiat was up 4.9 percent to €10.234 and Volkswagen gained 5.1 percent to €53.36.

Higher prices on crude oil and metals helped companies that deal in those commodities to gains. Norsk Hydro, with activities in both oil and aluminium, was up 9.3 percent to NKr164. Statoil advanced by 6.2 percent to NKr164.

Banks were up as well. National Bank of Greece added 9.5 percent to €29.02; it had dropped almost 10 percent since the first of June. Meanwhile, Commerzbank gained 4.4 percent to €26.92 as Deutsche Bank upgraded it to “buy” and said that its significant loss in share price recently was more than could be justified.

Utilities were mixed. Gaz de France and Suez, which have been planning a merger, each added 1 percent, to €26.17 and €29.97 respectively. Deutsche Bank commented that political support for the deal has receded in France and consequently it would likely not happen. Italian utility Enel, which has bid for Suez, declined by 0.1 percent to €6.993.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the day in positive territory on a late rally. Investors seemed to discount inflation and interest rate worries even though the minutes of the most recent meeting of the US Federal Reserve, released during the day, were taken to mean that US interest rates are likely to rise again when the Fed meets later in the month.

The telecommunications sector was mixed on the day, although there were more gainers than losers. TeliaSonera dropped 4.3 percent to SKr45.80 after it admitted that its chief executive and another company official had been charged with bribery in relation to a product-launch event. Elsewhere in the sector, Dresden Kleinwort Wasserstein suggested that its clients investing in telecoms to leave Telefonica in favor of Telecom Italia. Telefonica still added 0.1 percent to €12.78 and Telecom Italia was up 1.4 percent to €2.215. Belgacom gained 3.4 percent to €25.43 on a target share price increase from €29 to €29.90 from Bear Stearns, which also reconfirmed its “outperform” rating on the company’s shares. France Telecom advanced by 0.7 percent to €17.58.

Banks were also mixed on the day. National Bank of Greece lost 5.8 percent to €31.88 after shareholders gave their approval to a rights issue intended to raise the funds to purchase a stake in Finansbank of Turkey. Another Greek bank, Alpha Bank, also saw declines on the day as it dropped 2.9 percent to €18.96. EFG Eurobank, however, added 0.1 percent to €22.06. Elsewhere, the Bank of Ireland added 5 percent to €14.15 when Lehman Brothers upped its targets share price for the bank from €13.80 to €15.17.

Utilities saw declines after several energy suppliers were raided in an investigation into anti-competitive practices. Eon, one of those utilities targeted in the raids, dropped 0.1 percent to €89.87. Also in Germany, RWE dropped 1.2 percent to €65.85. Gaz de France also declined, by 0.6 percent to €27.16.

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 declined by 2.2 percent to close at 1,293.39. Banks saw substantial losses, as did several other key sectors.

Automobile manufacturers were down on the day. DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, and Volkswagen each declined by 2.2 percent. Porsche’s losses were in consequence of a reiteration by Citigroup of its “sell” rating on the carmaker, its setting of a target share price of €690, and its criticism of Porsch’s recent acquisition of a stake in Volkswagen. Porsche’s shares ended the day at €754.97, while Volkswagen closed at €54.82 and DaimlerChrysler ended the session with its shares trading at €40.38. Elsewhere in the sector, BMW dropped 2.3 percent to €40.03 and Renault was down 3.1 percent to €87.75.

Utilities also took a hit on the day. Amid reports that France will attempt to retain state regulation of the price of gas and electricity after market liberalization next year in order to gain the approval of parliament for the merger of Gaz de France and Suez, Gas de France dropped 1.4 percent to €26.05 and Suez was down 3.5 percent to €29.50. In addition, Electricite de France declined by 3.7 percent to €41.31.

In the banking sector, Swiss private bank Julius Baer was down 5.3 percent to SFr105.30. National Bank of Greece did almost as badly, dropping 5.2 percent to €31.30. Commerzbank declined by 4 percent to €28.87 even though it said that rumors that it has recently suffered large derivatives losses are false. Meanwhile in Belgium, KBC lost 3.6 percent to €83.55 even though it’s quarterly report was more positive than had been expected and it received an upgrade from “add” to “buy” from West LB.