In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.98 percent to 1,460.47. Other European exchanges saw similar gains, with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt gaining 0.92 percent to 6,595 and the CAC 40 up 0.97 percent to 5,437.13 in Paris.

The pharmaceutical sector was higher after Novartis (NYSE: NVS) gained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for Tektura, a new blood pressure treatment that could generate as much as $1 billion per year in sales by 2010. Novartis added 4.9 percent to SFr70.10. Helped by this success and by analyst comment that pharma shares are too cheap, Merck (NYSE: MRK) gained 0.8 percent to €92.70 and Roche (SWX: ROG; OTC: RHHBY) was 0.9 percent higher to SFr216.

Peugeot’s (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) chief executive said at the opening of the Geneva car show that his company is not interested in purchasing DaimlerChrysler’s (FWB: DCX; NYSE: DCX; TYO: 7663) US Chrysler division. With no rivals voicing interest, analysts believe that any offers for the troubled carmaker will likely come from private equity and, indeed, rumors have a couple of private entities interested. Peugeot added 0.7 percent to €49.43, while DaimlerChrysler was 3 percent higher to €52. Meanwhile, Fiat (NYSE: FIA) gained 0.6 percent to €17.67 after Goldman Sachs repeated its “conviction buy” on the carmaker and raised its target share price from €17 to €22.

European equities markets saw significant advances on Thursday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1 percent to close at 1,530.13, a six-year high.

Insurer Axa added 2.6 percent to €33.18 on a full-year report that showed sales 10 percent higher. The results brought an upgraded target share price, up from €34.50 to €36.10 from UBS, which also repeated its “buy” rating.

Elsewhere among financials, banks were higher after Deutsche Bank said that it made a record profit of €6 billion in 2006 due to growth in income from investment banking and trading. While Deutsche Bank ended the day even at €108.45, UBS was up 1.2 percent to €78.70 and Societe Generale gained 1.4 percent to €137.40. Anglo Irish Bank was 3.2 percent higher to €16 placement of 35.71 million shares in order to raise funds for expansion.

The oil sector gained on Royal Dutch Shell’s report that it had underlying profits of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, better than had been anticipated. Shell added 2 percent to €26.50, while OMV gained 1.3 percent to €41.62 and Total was 1.6 percent higher to €52.65.

The pharmaceuticals sector was higher on news from UK company AstraZeneca that it will emphasize joint ventures and cut jobs to promote growth. Novartis added 1.1 percent to SFr72.30 on an upgrade from JP Morgan, which raised the drug maker’s recommendation from “neutral” to “overweight” and upped its target share price from SFr74 to SFr81. Santhera Pharmaceuticals added 23.6 percent to SFr119.90 on an upgrade of its target share price from SFr123 to SFr175 from Deutsche Bank. Santhera expects an early approval of its treatment for a neuromuscular disease from the US Food and Drug Administration.

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.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the day at a five-year high as it closed 0.6 percent higher to 1,480.76. The gains came as analysts at Standard & Poor’s said that the active year in mergers and acquisitions could be topped by next year’s activity.

The airlines sector saw gains as investors looked for more consolidation in the sector after the recent record amount paid for the takeover of Qantas of Australia. Iberia was up 1.1 percent to €2.81, while Lufthansa added 1.3 percent to €20.87 and SAS gained 1.4 percent to SKr108.00.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Novo Nordisk added 2.5 percent to DKr468 on an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Citigroup. The broker also raised Novo’s target share price from DKr445 to DKr525, citing the positioning of the drug maker and healthcare group to capture more business as more and more people become diabetic. It also said that Novo’s growth potential from its anti-obesity drug had not yet been priced into to its share value.

Also in the healthcare sector, Nestle and Novartis both benefited from Nestle’s agreement to purchase Novartis’ medical nutrition unit for $2.5 billion. The deal was said to position Nestle second only to Numico in providing special foods for patients. Nestle added 1.5 percent on the news, to SFr436, while Novartis gained 1.8 percent to SFr71.35 and Numico was up 2.9 percent to €40.13.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Porsche was 2 percent higher to €955.00 when HVB increased its target share price from €995 to €1,104. Meanwhile, Volkswagen was 0.2 percent lower to €84.00.

In Europe on Monday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed 0.2 percent higher to 1,466.64 as the corporate earnings season continued to produce more positive surprise than negative ones.

In the construction sector, German group Bilfinger Berger added 1.7 percent to €48.40 after its first nine months were better than had been anticipated. The results earned the German builder an upgraded target share price from WestLB. Likewise, Spanish builder Sacyr Vallehermoso closed 15.2 percent higher to €54 on an increase in core earnings in its first nine months.

Deutsche Telekom added 2.6 percent to €13.48 and went as high as €13.62 during the day on the news that its chief executive had resigned and been replaced by the head of its mobile phone unit. Broker reaction was mixed. Morgan Stanley stuck with its rating of “overweight” and raised its target share price for the German telecom company from €13.10 to €13.50. Bear Stearns, on the other hand, repeated its recommendation of “underperform”, saying that a new chief executive would not make much of a difference on a board where the union controls nearly half of the seats.

Losers on the day included Novartis, which dropped 1 percent to SFr72.95 after it was announced that a US Food and Drug Administration decision on the approval of its diabetes drug, Galvus, for use in the United States, will be delayed for three months.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.32 percent to 1,441.16 as quarterly reports continue to emerge from various sectors.

Food groups were lower on the session. Nestle said that it saw sales grow by 9.1 percent in the first nine months of the year, which was about what analysts expected, but investors were unhappy with that result, which was lower than the 9 percent sales growth reported by Danone earlier in the week. Danone was 1.6 percent lower to €115, while Nestle dropped 2.5 percent to SFr427.

In the semiconductors sector, declines in the US sent Infineon 2.2 percent lower to €9.85. In another computer-related sector, German software group SAP was hurt by the announcement that it would likely not meet estimates for the full year. Even though it reported that sales were up by 17 percent in the third quarter, SAP dropped 3.1 percent on the session to €159.45. Even though its outlook was disappointing, both Dresdner Kleinwort and WestLB maintained their recommendations of “buy” and “hold”, respectively on the software maker.

In the telecommunications sector, Nokia was 3.6 percent lower to €15.36. While the Finnish phone maker’s sales were up during the third quarter, its earnings were lower than had been forecast. Elsewhere in the sector, Ericsson added 1.7 percent to SKr27.05 as its joint venture with Sony helped group profits rise.

Other gainers on the session included tire maker Michelin, which added 3.3 percent to €61.65 on an increased targets share price from Dresdner Kleinwort. In addition, Swiss pharmaceuticals company Novartis was 2.2 percent higher to SFr75.45 on net profits that were 12 percent higher in the third quarter.

Rumors of mergers in Europe’s aerospace and defense sector sent European equities higher on Tuesday even though the oil sector declined as crude oil prices continued to drop. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the session at 1,367.4. 0.2 percent lower.

Defense electronics company Thales and airplane engine manufacturer Safran were both said to be interested in bidding for French aeronautical supply company Zodiac. While Zodiac denied the rumors, all three companies saw gains on the session. Thales added 2.8 percent to €33.67, while Safran gained 4.5 percent to €16.79 and Zodiac was 6.8 percent higher to €47.69. In addition Alcatel, owner of 10 percent of Thales, was up 1.2 percent to €9.61.

Among oil companies, Cepsa dropped 2.1 percent to €55.50, Statoil declined by 3.2 percent to NKr168.50 and OMV was 3.7 percent lower to €41.25.

The semiconductors sector was helped by a prediction from Japanese company Elpida Memory that its sales could double this year. Infineon was 1.6 percent higher to €9.17 and ASML added 1.9 percent to €16.78. A reconfirmation of Merrill Lynch’s “buy” recommendation sent STMicroelectronics up 2.1 percent to €12.96.

In the transport sector, Danish container shipper Moller-Maersk added 3.1 percent to DKr46,900 as it said that its net profits in the first half dropped less than they had been expected to decline.

Drugmaker Bayer was down 0.7 percent to €39.26 even though its second quarter core earlings were up 14.1 percent, more than had been forecast. Elsewhere in the pharmaceuticals sector, Roche added 0.5 percent to SFr226.80 and Novartis was 0.6 percent higher to SFr70.50, both helped by the approval in Switzerland of Lucentis, a blindness treatment.

Down early in the day, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 managed to recover to close 0.9 percent higher to 1,355.41 on a slow day when some European markets were closed for the Assumption Day holiday.

Stocks in technology sectors benefited from comments issued by Morgan Stanley. Among software companies, SAP added 2.7 percent to €143.08. STMicroelectronics was 4.1 percent higher to €12.29, while in the telecommunications equipment sector Ericsson gained 4.2 percent to SKr22.60.

The pharmaceuticals sector was up on the day. Novartis was up by 1 percent to SFr69.95 even though its Sandoz generics division could be a target of a lawsuit by Sanofi-Aventis over unauthorized manufacture of generic copies of Plavix. The gain for Novartis came on a reconfirmation of Dresdner Kleinwort’s “buy” recommendation. Sanofi was also up, adding 2.5 percent to €70.30.

Among banks, UBS was 3.4 percent higher to SFr68.30 on a second quarter report that showed a 47 percent gain in net profits, well above what had been expected.

In the chemicals sector, Akzo Nobel added 4 percent to €44.35 on the news that it will ask shareholders to approve a spinoff of its pharmaceuticals unit and to make 30 percent of the new company available on Euronext in 2007.

In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.2 percent to 1,347.58, with the telecommunications and pharmaceuticals sectors helping out substantially. Utilities were also up.

Spanish utility Endsea released its first-quarter report, showing core profits that were up 31 percent. Growth in Europe and Latin America was credited with the improvement, sending shares in Endsea up 1 percent on the day to €26.55. Gas Natural and Eon, both interested in acquiring Endsea, were up 0.3 percent to €213.96 and 0.4 percent to €89.95 respectively.

Among pharmaceuticals companies, Sanofi-Aventis added 2.8 percent to €75.70. Roche and Novartis were each up by 2.2 percent, with Roche at SFr214.60 and Novartis at SFr69.50. The gains for Novartis came on news that tests in the United States have shown that its drug Exelon is helpful in treating dementia related to Parkinson’s disease.

It was the second day in a row for gains in the telecommunications sector. Hellenic Telecom was the biggest gain in the sector, adding 3.5 percent to €18.60. It is expected to bid for the shares of Mobi63 owned by the government of Serbia when those shares are auctioned in July. Deutsche Telekom, also likely to bid on the shares, was up 0.5 percent to €13.05. Elsewhere in fixed-line telecoms, Swisscom was up 1.3 percent to SFr405, while France Telecom rose by 1.5 percent to €17.49 on an upwardly revised revenue forecast from Bear Stearns.

Mobile telecoms also saw gains. Telnor gained 2.9 percent to NKr80.75, while Cosmote added 2.6 percent to €19.68.

In the oil sector, OMV of Austria dropped 5.7 percent to €45.13 despite a 24 percent rise in first-quarter profits when lower refining margins kept profits below levels that had been predicted.

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.6 percent to 1,388.98, although the telecommunications and oil sectors saw gains on the day.

The oil sector was mixed even as crude oil prices continued to rise and ABN Amro began coverage of Norsk Hydro and OMV with “buy” recommendations for both companies. Norsk Hydro gained 1.8 percent to NKr987.50, but OMV dropped 1.8 percent to €56.10. Neste Oil, meanwhile, gained 2.3 percent to €29.55. Oil support group Saipem added 2.3 percent as well, to €21.10.

Deutsche Telekom was up 3.7 percent to €14.16 when private equity investor Blackstone purchased a 4.5 percent stake in the telecom from German state development bank KfW. Elsewhere in the sector, Telekom Austria added 1.3 percent to €19.17 and France Telecom was up 1.1 percent to €18.20 as the Blackstone purchase raised hopes of further consolidations in the sector.

Stock exchange Euronext was up 1 percent to €73.05, primarily on a report that the owner of the Dubai Stock Exchange is planning to bid on the European exchange.

In the steel sector, ThyssenKrupp gained 0.5 percent to €26.97 when it said it anticipates that sales in China and Hong Kong will double in the fiscal year and on an upgrade from HSBC from “neutral” to “overweight”. HSBC also raised the steelmaker’s target share price from to €31, up from €18.

Despite a 32 percent rise in earnings in the first quarter, Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis dropped 1.2 percent to SFr72.50 on the news that it plans to hire 1,000 new sales staff.