The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was lower in Monday, closing at 1533.15, a decline of 0.6 percent.

The Greek banking sector saw declines after a new report showed that use of household credit grew substantially in November, causing some investors to worry that with Eurozone interest rates rising loan defaults could reach worrisome levels. Alpha Bank dropped 1.2 percent to €24.02, while National Bank of Greece fell 1.3 percent to €38.60. EFG Eurobank was 2 percent lower to €29.10 and Bank of Piraeus was down 2.2 percent to €26.40.

Stock exchanges were lower after it was announced that stockholders in the London Stock Exchange had rejected US exchange operator Nasdaq’s bid for the company. Deutsche Borse dropped 2.2 percent to €157.45. Euronext, still in the process of closing a merger with NYSE Group, fell 4.2 percent to €85.95.

In the oil sector, a decline of 2 percent in the price of crude oil sent shares lower. Statoil was 0.6 percent lower to NKr162.25, hurt not only by lower prices but by a fourth quarter report that did not rise to expected levels. French oil company Total was down 1.2 percent to €52.10. Neste Oil dropped 2.9 percent to €23.70.

The semiconductors sector was mixed. STMicroelectronics dropped 1.4 percent to €14.53, but Infineon added 1.3 percent to €12.15 after last week’s announcement of new contracts and on new reports that private equity could be interested in bidding. Meanwhile, chip-making equipment manufacturer ASML dropped 2.7 percent to €19.16.

Mixed news on the US economy the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lower on Thursday as concerns about that issue outweighed mergers and acquisitions activity in banking. The Eurofirst was 0.2 percent lower to 1,467.27.

Banks were in focus on the session as the sector was mixed on bids and earnings news. Financial services group Sampo added 7.8 percent to €19.08 on the news that it will sell its banking unit, Sampo Bank, to Danske Bank of Denmark for DKr30.1 billion in cash. Danske Bank dropped 4 percent to SKr252 on analyst opinion that it is spending too much to buy Sampo Bank.

Allied Irish Banks were 0.3 percent higher to €21.87 on a report that its Polish division, Zachodni WBK, saw a gain of 29 percent in profits in the third quarter as more people in Poland took out mortgages. Greek bank Piraeus added 1 percent to €23 on upgrades from JP Morgan and Investment Bank of Greece. Investment Bank raised its recommendation of Piraeus from “accumulate” to “buy”, while JP Morgan upped its target share price from €26 to €28, citing its performance in the third quarter. On the other hand, Raiffeisen International dropped 3.2 percent to €86.60 despite a tripling of net profits in the quarter. The decline was due to losses on loans in Russia and Ukraine.

Elsewhere, Belgian brewer Inbev added 2 percent to €46.03 on a third-quarter report of net profits that were 25 percent higher due to growth in eastern Europe and Latin America. The third-quarter figures were higher than had been anticipated.

In the energy sector, Spanish power generator Iberdrola dropped 1.8 percent to €35.46 on the announcement that is thinking of bidding for Scottish Power in the UK.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down by 0.3 percent on the session Thursday as a mixed banking sector was in focus. Airlines were also mixed.

Alitalia was 0.1 percent lower to €0.95 on rumors that it wants to merge with Air France-KLM after it said it would announce a plan soon to return to profits. Meanwhile, Air France-KLM added 2.9 percent to €21.30 after it said that its first-quarter profits were up by 84 percent.

Among banks which saw gains, Piraeus Bank was 0.1 percent higher to €20.42 Banca Popolare Italiana was up by the same percentage to €9.86. Banca Popolare di Verona e Novara added 3.6 percent to €23.20 on merger talks, while National Bank of Greece advanced by 3.9 percent to €32.40 after it reported that its first-half profit was up by 65 percent.

Agriculture Bank of Greece was flat at €4.12 even though Deutsche Bank raised its target share price from €4.70 to €4.90. Meanwhile, Credit Agricole dropped 2.4 percent to €31.71 on investor concerns over the merger in Italy of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo. Agricole holds 18 percent of Intesa. In Belgium, KBC dropped 6.5 percent to €84.05 on a caution that its second half might not live up to performance in the first half. Fortis reduced its recommendation on the banking and insurance group from “buy” to “hold”.

Elsewhere in Europe, Thales added 0.4 percent to €33.92 after Merrill Lynch upgraded the defense electronics group from “neutral” to “buy” on the basis of strong orders. On the other hand, in the semiconductors sector, STMicroeletronics dropped 2.2 percent to €12.85 on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from Citigroup.

European equities markets were lower on Monday on fears that interest rates in the region could go up more than previously expected. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,278.91.

The banking sector was mixed on the day. Credit Agricole said that it would not raise its bid for Greek bank Emporiki even though the Bank of Cyprus was reported to have submitted a higher offer than Agricole’s. Agricole dropped 0.4 percent to €28.30 and Alpha Bank, also thought to be interested in bidding for Emporiki, was down 1.1 percent to €18.80. Meanwhile, Bank of Cyprus added 1.6 percent to €7.34. Emporiki remained even at €27.48.

Elsewhere among banks, Piraeus Bank gained 3.5 percent to €18.66 after it became known that it had increased its stake in Bank of Cyprus from 5.99 percent to 6.4 percent and rumors began to circulate that Piraeus was thinking about bidding for Bank of Cyprus. EFG Eurobank dropped 1.7 percent to €21.10, while National Bank of Greece ended down 1.8 percent to €28.08.

In the steel sector, Arcelor was up 7.9 percent to €37.80 and Mittal Steel dropped 3.7 percent to €24.38 after Arcelor agreed to a new offer from Mittal which was 43 percent higher than its January bid. The newly formed company will have to divest itself of some holdings to satisfy regulatory rules. Salzgitter, which is known to be interested in Arcelor’s European holdings, added 1.9 to €63.25. On the other hand, ThyssenKrupp dropped 2.6 percent to €25.13 on concerns that its deal with Mittal to purchase US company Dofasco could be abandoned due to opposition from Arcelor.

EADS added 3.3 percent to €22.75 after the French government conceded that the aerospace firm’s governance structure should be set by its industrial partners, DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere. The French had previously asked for more influence over the company after EADS said that deliveries of its new A380 super jumbo jet will be delayed.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.4 percent on Thursday as crude oil prices rose again and the US stock markets were down.

Despite rising oil prices, the oil sector was mixed on the day. Statoil dropped 3.9 percent to NKr196 on the news that it had gone ex-dividend, so that new stock purchasers will not be eligible to receive a dividend this year. Spanish oil company Repsol was down 1.5 percent to €22.25 after it reported that net profits in the first quarter were up 7.5 percent, less than had been expected. The results were explained by falling refining margins that offset high prices. The rising price of crude oil sent shares in Neste Oil up 4.2 percent to €28.17, while Total gained 0.8 percent to €223.80.

In the telecommunications sector, Deutsche Telekom dropped 2.6 percent to €13.24 after lower than expected core earnings in the first quarter due to weakness in its mobile phone business in the UK.

Banks were mixed on the day. Raiffeisen International was up 5.2 percent to €78.10 on better than expected quarterly results. ING Group also had a better quarterly report than had been expected, with net profit up 3.3 percent, but after early gains its shares ended the day down by 0.2 percent to €33.09. Greek banks were down as well. Both Eurobank and Piraeus Bank reported net interest income that was lower than had been anticipated. As a result, Eurobank lost 4.8 percent on the day to €29.88 and Piraeus dropped 2.3 percent to €26.06.