In mid-afternoon trade on Thursday the European equities markets were mixed, with the Eurofirst and Xetra Dax up slightly but the CAC-40 down just a bit. Once again, activity in the utilities sector was one of the driving forces behind the gains and losses.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.1 percent in the middle of the afternoon session to 1,360.82. The Xetra Dax gained 0.3 percent to 5,885.43. In Paris, however, the CAC-40 dropped 0.2 percent to 5,066.38.

Over the weekend, the French government approved the merger between the Franco-Belgian Suez and state-owned Gaz de France in a €73 billion dollar deal. Technically, Gaz de France is acquiring Suez, but the state-owned portion of the new company will be under 40 percent. The approved merger sent shares in both companies down, with Gaz de France losing 1.7 percent to €29.28 after rising earlier in the day. Suez lost 4.5 percent to €32.36.

Elsewhere in the sector, Gas Natural was up 1 percent to €26.17, Endsea lost 0.1 percent to €28.32, and Eon dropped 0.1 percent as well, to €94.69 as it was reported that the directors of Gas Natural in Spain had met over the weekend to decide whether to match Eon’s larger counteroffer for Endsea. Meanwhile, EDF was up 4.6 percent to €46.51 when Morgan Stanley raised its target share price for the French electricity provider from €40 to €50.

In the energy sector, Italian group ERG was up 1.2 percent to €20.30 as JP Morgan issued an initial rating of “overweight” for the company with a target share price of €23. Oilfield services company Saipem was up 11.8 percent to €18.07 ahead of its full year earnings report and after purchasing Eni’s engineering unit, Snamprogetti.

Equities markets in Europe saw advances on Monday on the strength of gains the oil sector as the FTSE Eurofirst gained 0.2 percent to 1,345.92, a new four and a half year high.

The oil sector was up on higher crude oil prices. Statoil gained 3.5 percent to €178. Meanwhile Saipem, the largest oil field services company in Europe, was up 3.1 percent to €16.04.

The banking sector was also up, with more takeover talk in Italian banking. Mediobanca, rumored to be a target despite an agreement that gives core shareholders 54 percent of the bank, was up 4.2 percent to a record high share prices of €17.60. Capitalia, also seen as a potential takeover target, gained 2.8 percent to €6.325. Meanwhile, EFG Eurobank was up 4 percent to €33.06 as JP Morgan raised its price target from €40 to €44 on the strength of the bank’s expansion in southeastern and central Europe.

Utilities were up on the day as well, with Electricite de France gaining 2.2 percent to €41.56 on consolidation talk. Eon gained 0.6 percent to €93.44 after its chief executive said he expects that three dominant players will emerge in the sector.

The pharmaceuticals sector was mixed. Schering was up 3.3 percent to €58.39 on an announcement that its fourth-quarter operating profits were up 30 percent, slightly higher than forecasts. It also said that it will buy the property and equipment used by its US partner, Chiron, to produce the drug Betaferon (Betaseron in the US), which is expected to be approved for the treatment of early-stage multiple sclerosis before the end of the third quarter. Shares in Novartis, which has not yet finalized its planned purchase of Chiron, was up 0.1 percent to SFr71.50.

Elsewhere in the sector, Serono dropped 2.2 percent to SFr959 as concern grew about competition between its multiple sclerosis drug Rebif with Betaferon. Sanofi-Aventis dropped 3 percent to €71.70 after regulators in the United States delayed final approval of Acomplia as a weight management treatment and rejected the drug as a stop-smoking aid.

In the European equities markets, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.4 percent to 1,224.74 on profit-taking based on higher oil prices.

The mining and retail sectors, as well as the automobile manufacturing sector, were down on the day.

The biggest winner in terms of percentage on the day was Neste Oil, which gained 3.4 percent to €31.48. Elsewhere in the sector, Statoil was up 1.2 percent to NKr166, but Saipem lost 0.2 percent to €13.95.

The automobile manufacturing sector saw losses across the board. Even though Morgan Stanley raised DaimlerChrysler’s earnings per share forecast for 2006 and 2007 after the carmaker announced job cuts in its Mercedes division Wednesday, shares in the car company fell 2.5 percent to €44.50. BMW lost 0.1 percent to €38.87 after Credit Suisse First Boston raised its target price from €40 to €48 and repeated its “outperform” rating. Peugeot lost 1.7 percent to €56.40, Renault fell 1.8 percent to €78.25, and Volkswagen declined 2.4 percent to €37.39.

In the banking sector, Italian bank Sanpaolo IMI gained a fraction to €12.91 and Ersle Bank rose 1.8 percent to €43.49.

The steel sector also saw gains. Anglo-Dutch company Corus gained 1.3 percent to €0.78 when UBS upgraded the rating on its shares from “neutral” to “buy”. UBS raised the price target on Arcelor as it increased steel price forecasts by 5 percent for 2006 and 2007. As a result, Arcelor was up 0.3 percent to €19.45. ThyseenKrupp was up 1.9 percent to 17.32, while Spanish stainless steel company Acerinox added 0.6 percent to €11.44.