In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent to 1,321.04 as quarterly earnings reports began to be issued by European companies.

French property group Unibail added 1.7 percent to €135.10 ahead of its half-year earnings report, due later in the month. Merrill Lynch upgraded Unibail to “buy” based on the upward trend of office rents in Paris and issued a target share price of €150.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics dropped 0.4 percent to €12.20 after a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” and a decrease in its target share price from UBS. On the other hand, UBS reissued “buy” ratings for both ASML and Phillips Electronics. ASML added 0.5 percent to €15.44, while Phillips was up 1.1 percent to €23.96. Elsewhere, Infineon gained 1.7 percent to €8.98.

The oil sector saw declines as crude oil prices fell from record highs last week. OMV was down 1.8 percent to €47.71, while Statoil dropped 1.9 percent to NKr183.50.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Roche added 0.6 percent to SFr207.20 after it said that it has filed with European regulators to gain approval for its drug Avastin for use against breast cancer. In addition, the way was cleared via a ruling from the International Trade Commission for Roche to apply for US approval for CERA, an experimental anemia drug.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the week with a gain of 1.7 percent, to 1,276.32, but over the week it dropped 2.8 percent. Miners, oil companies, and other sectors connected to resources were responsible for much of the declines on the week.

The pharmaceuticals sector was mixed. Irish drugmaker Elan lost almost 17 percent during the week to €12.38 after the US Food and Drug Administration allowed them to return their multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri to the shelves, but only as a treatment of last resort after its sales were stopped earlier due to the deaths of some patients taking the drug. With the reintroduction, Elan said that it would increase the price of the drug. Drug companies with rival MS treatments saw gains, however. Schering added 1 percent to €86.25, while Serono was up 3.8 percent to SFr802. Also gaining during the week was Roche, which was up 1.5 percent to SFr194.20 after it announced encouraging test results on three different cancer drugs.

Telecommunications companies were mixed as well. Telecom Italia gained 0.9 percent to €2.24, Belgacom added 1 percent to €25.90, and Telefonica advanced by 1.4 percent to €13. But France Telecom declined by 2.3 percent to €17.29 after it said it would sell its 54 percent share of directory publisher PagesJaunes, which was up 2.5 percent this week to €22.89.

In oil related sectors, Austrian oil prodcuer OMV dropped 15.6 percent during the week to €39.75. Atlas Copco, the Swedish engineering company that works with oil producers, added 4.4 percent to SKr165.50 on Friday, but still declined by 10 percent over the week.

With markets in the UK and the US closed for holidays, European equities markets declined on very low volumes of trade on Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,322.45.

The decline came even though the steel sector was mostly higher amid rumors of mergers and acquisitions after Arcelor said on Friday that it will merge with Severstal of Russia. Despite investor unhappiness with the move by Arcelor, the Luxembourg-based company added 3.9 percent on the day to €32.80 as Mittal Steel said it would proceed with its attempt to take over Arcelor. Mittal was up 5 percent on the day to €26.25. Only Severstal saw a decline, with its shares down 0.7 percent to Rbs376.90.

Elsewhere in the sector, the possibility of further mergers sent shares in Corus up 2.8 percent to €5.80 and Salzgitter gained 6.3 percent to €68.62.

The oil sector also saw gains on last week’s increase in the price of crude oil. Cespa was up 1.8 percent to €52.10 and Statoil added 2.8 percent to NKr185. Norsk Hydro, with interests in both oil and metals, gained 2.3 percent to NKr176 after it bought back 561,000 shares at NKr170.66 each.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche was up 0.9 percent to SFr190.70 after it released data showing that its drug Herceptin, in conjunction with hormone therapy, will stop progression of breast cancer and give longer life to some patients with the disease.

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.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.26 percent on Wednesday to close at 1,390.96. Earnings news from several sectors helped the Eurofirst stay in positive territory.

The semiconductor sector did well after Infineon reported its first profit in four quarters, on its automotive, industrial, and memory units. The German chipmaker was up 0.9 percent to €9.59. Elsewhere in the sector, Philips added 2.7 percent to €27.74, Siemens gained 2.3 percent to €79.75, and Micronas Semiconductor was up 1.2 percent to SFr33.40 despite downgrades from a number of brokers. Only STMicroelecctronics had a notable decline, losing 3.9 percent to €15.12 despite reporting better than anticipated quarterly results recently.

The banking sector was mixed. Despite a 12.1 percent gain in net profits in the first quarter, ABN Amro was down 2.5 percent to €24.25. But Italian bank Capitalia was up 2.5 percent to €6.93 on merger rumors.

A 15 percent rise in sales in the first quarter sent Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche up 0.3 percent to SFr189.40. Much of the upswing in sales were on increased demand for Tamiflu and cancer drugs. Roche said it expects sales and earnings to rise even more as the year progresses. Elsewhere in the sector, GPC Biotech added 4.7 percent to €13.58 on a recommendation that it continue late-stage trials on a prostate cancer drug it is developing. The news brought an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from West LB, which also raised the drugmaker’s target share price from €14.1 to €15.7.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.1 percent on Tuesday to 1,368.17, with declines blamed on high oil prices and a lower tech sector. Meanwhile, the automobile manufacturing sector was mixed and airlines were down on the day.

The rise in crude oil prices led to declines in the airline sector. Scandinavian airline SAS dropped 3.8 percent to SKr101.50, while Air France-KLM was down 1.9 percent to €18.42 and Ryanair declined by 1.4 percent to €7.17.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen was the biggest loser at 1.6 percent to €61.54. DaimlerChrysler was down 0.7 percent to €45.64, while BMW dropped 0.6 percent to €44.20. Bucking the trend was Peugeot, which added 0.4 percent to €50.25 on the news that it will close a plant in the UK with a loss of 2,300 jobs.

Gains in the oil sector helped the Eurofirst limit its losses on the day. Statoil was up 4.1 percent to NKr202.50 after Merrill Lynch raised its target share price from NKr190 to NKr220. Norsk Hydro was up 3 percent to NKr958.50, while Neste Oil gained 3 percent to €28.75 and OMV added 3.1 percent to €58.75.

In the tech sector, Philips Electronics dropped 2.1 percent to €26.28 even though they saw a 37 percent rise in net profits in the first quarter. The decline on the day was due at least partly to investor disappointment that a first-quarter share buyback was not extended further.

Elsewhere in the tech sector, Nokia dropped 0.3 percent to €17.36, Ericsson was down 0.7 percent to SKr29.30, and SAP lost 1.5 percent to €180.07.

Pharmaceuticals company Roche lost 1.9 percent to SFr188.90 when HSBC dropped its target share price from SFr233 to SFr222. HSBC did, however, maintain its “overweight” rating for the drug company.

European equities markets saw increases on Monday, primarily on gains in the automobile manufacturing sector. Most brewers were also up, as were some parts of the chemicals industry. Other companies did not fare so well on the day.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,326.87 after a loss of 0.5 percent on Friday. Meanwhile, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax gained 0.5 percent to 5,728.68 and in France the CAC-40 was up 0.3 percent to 4,923.19.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Volkswagen was up 5.3 percent to €58.33 on the strength of an increased target price of €55, up from €38, by UBS. Porsche was also the recipient of an upgrade, from HVB, to “outperform” from “neutral”, sending its shares up 4.2 percent to €695,50. Porsche’s price target was also raised, from €688 to €718. Renault gained 4.2 percent to €83.05 and BMW gained 2.3 percent to €40.50.

Meanwhile, brewers Heineken and Carlsberg both also received upgrades to “buy” from Merrill Lynch. Heineken gained 2.1 percent on the day to €29.14, while Carlsberg was up 1.9 percent to DKr368. Carlsberg’s joint venture with Scottish & Newcastle as well as its cost-cutting opportunities, were among the reasons for its ratings bump. Bucking the upward trend, Belgian brewer Inbev was down 1.8 percent to €38.59 as Merrill Lynch downgraded it to “sell” on issues related to valuation.

In the chemicals sector, Swiss specialty chems company Clariant was up as much as 10 percent during the day and settled up 2.7 percent to €20.70 on news over the weekend that it is at an advanced stage in sale talks with private-equity firms.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Roche was down 2 percent to SFr188.10 even though it said there would be no financial impact due to its suspension of patient recruitment for trials on Avastin, a colon cancer drug. The suspension was said to be on account of safety concerns.

Norwegian energy group Statoil dropped 3.4 percent to NKr170.50 after it reported that its fourth quarter operating profits were up less than had been anticipated.