Corporate earnings reports that were not uniformly good hurt European equities markets on Tuesday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropping 0.9 percent to 1,326.70. A losing start on Wall Street did not make things any better for the European exchange.

The banking sector, like the corporate reports, were mixed on the session. Irish banks did fairly well. Allied Irish Banks were up 1.5 percent to €19.22 after it reported that its pre-tax profits were up by 47 percent in the first half of the year. This result helped Bank of Ireland to add 1.2 percent to €7.54. Anglo Irish Bank ended the day even at €11.42. The European banking sector as a whole, however dropped 1.2 percent for the session. Deutsche Bank fell 4.7 percent to €86. While the German bank’s net profit was up 30 percent in the second quarter overall, revenues in its equity investment unit were down by 50 percent.

Among utilities, Gaz de France was 1.7 percent lower to €27.38. Meanwhile, French utility Suez dropped 2.5 percent to €31.65. Suez’s first half sales were up by 10.2 percent, but did not meet predictions.

Ryanair declined by 3.2 percent to €7.54 even though its quarterly profits were up by 80 percent, much more than had been expected. The decline came after the low-cost airline’s chief executive said that the outlook for the rest of the year was “cautious”.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Elan dropped 0.3 percent to €11.69 despite an early gain of more than 3 percent after its latest results showed that losses were down in the second quarter.

European equities markets saw only small gains over the week as investors worried about what will happen concerning interest rates. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.2 percent on Friday but managed a 0.2 percent gain on the week to close at 1,316.45.

Some sectors did see gains on the week. Air carriers were helped out by a report from EasyJet that it had seen 15.6 percent more passenger traffic in June and predicted good profits growth for the year. Air France-KLM added 0.7 percent during the week to €18.51, while Ryanair was up 8.6 percent to €7.71, also on increased passenger traffic in June. Ryanair reported a 23 percent increase in passenger traffic over the same period last year.

The oil sector was up as well as crude oil prices reached new record highs during the week. Neste Oil was up 0.8 percent on the week to €27.75, while Norsk Hydro added 5.5 percent to NKr174 and Statoil advanced by 6 percent to NKr187.

Aerospace and defense group EADS added 3.2 percent on Friday after its new co-chief executive said that the company’s first priority was to regain investors’ confidence, but it still was down 3.5 percent to €21.7 after Rothschild questioned the valuation of Airbus. EADS owns 80 percent of Airbus.

The European equities markets saw steep declines on Thursday on sell-offs. They were not alone, as Asian markets and the markets in London also fell substantially. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped by 2.4 percent on the day, to close at 1,257.6. It was the fifth session in the past month in which the Eurofirst declined by more than 2 percent in a day. Elsewhere, the Xetra Dax and the CAC 40 each lost 2.9 percent by the close of the trading day.

Utilities were mixed, with Suez up 0.2 percent to €30.20 but down from where it had been earlier in the session. Gaz de France was 0.9 percent lower, however, to close at €26.19, while Enel dropped 0.5 percent to €7.09.

The oil sector saw significant declines as crude oil prices dropped below the $70 per barrel level. OMV lost 8.1 percent to SKr174, while Norsk Hydro declined by 7.9 percent to NKr152.50 and Neste Oil was down 6.8 percent to €23.73.

Automobile manufacturers were also down on the day. BMW lost early gains on the news that sales had risen by 5.5 percent in May to close 0.7 percent lower to €37.50. Elsewhere in the sector, Volkswagen dropped 0.9 percent to €51.43, Renault was down 1.5 percent to €84.20, and DaimlerChrysler fell 2.3 percent on the day.

Airlines were mixed. Air France dropped 2.4 percent to €15.96, while Lufthansa was down 0.7 percent to €13.60. On the other hand, Ryanair added 3.5 percent to €6.87 on its full-year report and on the drop in crude oil prices.

In Europe on Tuesday, equities markets were down on a day when every single sector saw declines in a general sell-off as investors acted on concerns over what they feared might happen to interest rates worldwide. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 declined by 1.9 percent on the day to 1,280.55. In Germany and in France the Xetra Dax and the CAC had each lost over 2 percent by the close.

Ferrovial of Spain was down 4.7 percent to €57.95 on the news that British airports operator had accepted their offer rather than a higher bid from a group led by investment bank Goldman Sachs. The decline came as some analysts expressed the belief that Ferrovial has taken on more than it can handle with the offer. Meanwhile, BAA’s London-listed shares closed below Ferrovial’s bid of 950.25 per share.

Still in aviation-related shares, discount airline Ryanair dropped 1.2 percent to €6.80 despite a full-year earnings report that was a bit better than had been expected. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein reiterated its “buy” recommendation on the air carrier.

European automobile manufacturers saw substantial declines. DaimlerChrysler was down 4.2 percent to €38.33 after Credit Suisse lowered its target share price for the carmaker from €46 to €44. Elsewhere in the sector, Porsche lost 3.4 percent to €748.87, while Fiat dropped 3.3 percent to €10.08 and BMW was 3 percent lower at €37.88.

In the pharmaceutical sector, Irish drug maker Elan lost 16.3 percent to €12.35 after its drug Tysabri, a treatment for multiple sclerosis drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration only for use in patients who have not responded to other treatments. Tysabri was taken off the market last year after some patients being treated with the drug experienced fatal side effects. Serono, the Swiss drug maker, added 1.3 percent on the day to SFr796 on a Bear Stearns comment that it did not see the FDA ruling in Elan’s favor as a threat to Serono’s MS drug, Rebif.

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.

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.2 percent to 1,367.27. Italian politics had more than a little to do with the day’s trade. Romano Prodi unseated Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi but only by a narrow margin that left it unclear how many reforms the new parliament would be able to enact.

The Italian banking sector was down significantly in the wake of the election results. Unicredito dropped 3.8 percent to €5.83, while Banche Popolari Unite lost 3.5 percent to €19.48 and Mediobanca was down 3.4 percent to €17.23. Elsewhere, Swiss bank UBS lost 1.7 percent to SFr144.10 after it said it would buy Piper Jaffray’s private client branch network, paying $500 million cash for the acquisition. The loss came even though analysts said the purchase was a good one for UBS.

Despite his loss in the Italian election, Silvio Berlusconi’s day wasn’t completely a loss. His Mediaset broadcasting company added 1.1 percent to €10.17 as analysts said its shares were trading at a discount. Bear Stearns reiterated its “outperform” rating and target share price, set at €12.

Shares in companies that must purchase fuel were down as crude oil prices again were up. Ryanair declined by 2 percent to €7.38, while Lufthansa dropped 3.2 percent to €14.33 even though it reported an 0.4 percent rise in traffic.

In the telecommunications sector, the largest maker of telecom equipment, Nokia, added 3.7 percent to €17.60 after it announced that first-quarter handset prices had gone up to €103, above its forecast of €99 or less. Before the report was released, Dresdner Kelinwort Wasserstein had reiterated its “sell” recommendation on the stock predicted a lower selling price for handsets and consequent limits to revenue growth in the quarter.