In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was nearly steady, losing only 0.21 points to end the session at 1,513.31 as big losses for Alcatel-Lucent balanced gains in other sectors.

Alcatel-Lucent dropped 8.5 percent to €10.02 after having lost as much as 12 percent in earlier trade. The manufacturer of telecommunications equipment issued a profits and revenues warning for the fourth quarter. The company said adjusted revenues will be around €4.4 billion, significantly lower than last year’s €5.25 billion. Operating revenues, which were expected to show a profit of €539 million will, the company said, manage to just break even.

The automobile and truck manufacturing sector saw gains when German truck maker MAN said it will abandon its hostile takeover bid for Scania and instead try to negotiate a friendly merger. Scania’s B shares added 1.1 percent to SKr645 after dropping as low as SKr441 earlier in the session, while MAN gained 2.3 percent to €75.79. Volkswagen, which is the largest shareholder in both Scania and MAN, was 0.4 percent higher to €84.67.

In the media sector, Dutch television producer Endemol ended the session 1.6 percent higher to €20.65. Its share price was as high as €22.74 after it was reported that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. wanted to purchase the 75 percent stake of Endemol that Telefonica owns, but pulled back to its closing level after News Corp denied the rumors.

Luxury goods makers were mixed. Despite reporting a 10 percent gain in sales in the quarter, Richemont dropped 3.6 percent to SFr70. Swatch, on the other hand added 1.8 percent to SFr292.75.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.1 percent to 1,472.65 during the week as trade was light as the Christmas holiday approached.

Among the losers on the week was the Spanish construction sector. Sacyr-Vallehermoso, which dropped 7.4 percent to €46 after it said it has taken a bank loan of €5.175 billion to pay for its purchase of 20 percent of oil company Repsol. JP Morgan began coverage of the Spanish construction company with a rating of “underweight” and a target share price of €36. Meanwhile, Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas dropped 7.6 percent to €76.10 when Banesto dropped its recommendation on FCC from “overweight” to “neutral”.

On the other hand, after seeing tough times due to delays in the construction of the Airbus A380, EADS added 5.7 percent during the week to €25.77 after it received new orders from Qantas and from Singapore Airlines.

In the oil sector, Norsk Hydro had a very good week, adding 20.3 percent to NKr188 after it announced that it will merge its oil and gas production business with Statoil. It will keep its aluminium operations separate. Statoil, however, dropped 5.2 percent to NKr164 despite positive reaction to the deal from most brokers when Citigroup downgraded its recommendation from “buy” to “hold”.

Swiss watch makers saw gains on exports that were up 13 percent in November compared to last year at the same time. Swatch was up 3 percent to SFr54.15, while Richemont added 4.1 percent to SFr70.50.

After gains early in the session, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended at 1,4479, a decline of 0.2 percent. Several sectors contributed to the decline.

Still, there were gainers on the session. In the luxury goods sector, Swatch Group added 0.8 percent to SFr54.00, while Richemont, which owns the Cartier brand of watches, gained 3 percent to SFr71.35, a record high. The advances came on hopes that Christmas spending would benefit the companies.

The French utilities sector was higher on new rumors about takeovers. Gaz de France was 1.6 percent higher to €34.23, while Suez gained 2.1 percent to €38.57 despite questions about the proposed merger between the two. Analysts saw the merger as less and less likely after news that shareholders might not vote on approval before the beginning of July. That would delay final government approval of the deal until after French presidential elections in May, with a new government seen as less likely to extend approval. Additionally, a French billionaire is said to be thinking of bidding for Suez.

Aerospace company EADS added 2.2 percent to €25.79 after Australian airline Qantas ordered eight more of the delayed Airbus A380, upping its order to twenty of the superjumbo jets.

In the oil sector, Total dropped 0.2 percent to €54.50 even though Deutsche Bank reaffirmed its “buy” recommendation on the French oil company, saying that European oil companies are currently trading at record lows.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.1 percent to 1,468.30 on Tuesday on light trade.

Among gainers on the day was Alitalia, which gained 3 percent to €0.986 on speculation that the Italian airline could hook up with international carriers.

Consumer goods company Henkel was 3.8 percent higher to €112.28 on a target share price upgrade from Merrill Lynch, which also repeated its “buy” recommendation citing growth in sales. The broker raised the German company’s target share price from €100 to €127.

Bancha Monte dei Paschi di Siena added 1.3 percent to €4.89 when French insurance company CNP Assurances revealed that it is interested in bidding for the Italian bank’s insurance unit, MPS Vita. CNP added 0.2 percent to €82.15 on the news.

Danone was 1.9 percent higher to €119.00 after Goldman Sachs issued a “buy” recommendation for the French foods group on the basis of growth that was outpacing the sector.

Luxury goods group Richemont added 1.4 percent to SFr66.65 on an improved full-year earnings forecast from Goldman Sachs. The upgrade came after Richemont announced on Friday that profits were up 22 percent in the first half.

Deutsche Borse was up 3 percent to €129.74 after speculation surfaced that it might be interested in bidding on Spanish exchange BME now that the German exchange has withdrawn its bid for Euronext. BME gained 7.4 percent to €29.95 on the rumors.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was not helped on Thursday by bids rumors in the banking and automobile manufacturing sectors. The Eurofirst dropped 0.1 percent to 1,369.27 as investors continued to worry about inflation in the United States.

There were more details concerning an anticipated bid by MAN to acquire Scania. It was rumored that the German truck maker would submit a largely cash bid worth around €9.5 billion for its Swedish rival. The key still seems to be convincing top Scania shareholders Volkswagen and Investor to support the deal, which some say could be announced as soon as Monday.

Scania B shares dropped slightly on the session, by 0.4 percent to SKr154, but Volkswagen added 0.9 percent to €64.83, Investor gained 2.3 percent to SKr154, and MAN was 5.1 percent higher to €63.19.

In other mergers and acquisitions news, it was said that Netherlands bank ABN Amro could soon receive a bid from Bank of America. Such rumors have circulated before, and some analysts did not give them much credence. However, shares in ABN Amro were up 1.3 percent to €22.39. Also in the banking sector, there was speculation that a merger between SEB and Nordea might be coming up. The talk sent Nordea 3 percent higher to SKr95.25, while SEB added 3.8 percent to SKr203.50.

Shares in companies that deal in luxury goods were mixed. On the strength of a positive trading statement that had sales up 16 percent in the first five months of its fiscal year, Richemont gained 2 percent to SFr59.90. Meanwhile, Hermes International added 3 percent to €67.70 even though its first half net profits weren’t quite up to analysts expectations. Italian jeweler Bulgari, on the other hand, dropped 2.6 percent to €9.86 after its most recent guidance was not as optimistic as had been hoped.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.1 percent to 1,387.35 on Tuesday despite gains in the automobile manufacturing sector.

Swiss luxury goods manufacturer Richemont dropped 3 percent to SFr64.15 on profit taking after it reported that annual sales was up 17 percent due to growth in its jewelry and watch making units. Richemont’s shares have added 16 percent since the beginning of the year.

Also down on the day was household appliance maker Electrolux. The company’s shares dropped 2.2 percent on the day to SKr218.50 after Goldman Sachs reiterated its “underperform” rating and cut its earnings per share estimate by 10 percent on the prospect of further rises in the cost of raw materials.

Gainers on the day included STMicroelectronics, which added 1.2 percent to €15.72 ahead of its quarterly earnings report which was due to be released after the close of trade. Infineon Technologies added 2.6 percent to €9.44 on an upgrade from “equal-weight” to “overweight” from Lehman Brothers. In addition, Infineon’s target share price was raised from €8 to €12.

Telecommunications company TeliaSonera was also up on the day, by 1.9 percent to SKr48.90, on higher than expected first quarter core earnings and a proposal for an additional annual dividend.

Among carmakers, Renault added 7.1 percent to €92.05 after it said its first quarter sales were up by 5.8 percent, year on year, better than the 4 percent advance that had been expected. Merrill Lynch raised Renault’s target share price from €85 to €100, while Dresden Kleinwort Wasserstein upped the target from €95 to €97. Elsewhere in the sector, Volvo was up 4.4 percent to SKr370.50, also on better than expected profits in the first quarter.

The European equities markets were down on Thursday on weakness in several sectors despite strength in other areas, as well as on renewed worries about rising interest rates after the European Central Bank raised interest rates to 2.5 percent, up a quarter point.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.9 percent to 1,343.20.

There were some gains on the day due to mergers and acquisitions action and rumors. Swedish engineering group Atlas Copco was up 4.6 percent in its A shares to SKr205.00 on speculation that it had gotten a good price for its US-based construction equipment rental operation, Rental Service. In the biotechnology sector, NicOx gained 78 percent to €5.98 on the news that it has signed a deal worth up to €323 million with Pfizer, giving Pfizer exclusive rights to NicOx eye treatment technology.

The luxury goods sector was also up on the day, with LVMH up 3.7 percent to €79.35 on its report that operating profits had grown 16 percent over the full year, well above expectations. Elsewhere in the sector, Christian Dior gained 3.9 percent to €81.80, while Richemont was up 3.2 percent to SFr59.30.

Insurers were down, however. Swiss Re, for example, lost 4.7 percent to SFr89.50 on the announcement that its net profits had declined by 41.4 percent.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen dropped 3.7 percent to €55.42 over internal problems concerning the German automaker’s restructuring plans.

The telecommunications sector was mixed, with Deutsche Telekom up 1 percent to €13.63 on a good fourth-quarter earnings report and Greek telecom OTE up 1.7 percent to €18.18. France Telecom, however, was down 0.4 percent to €18.13.