In a week that saw focus on two long-term stories of merger attempts, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.3 percent on Friday to close at 1,440.78 for a total gain of 2 percent over the week.

Both Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI saw gains after both companies’ boards of directors approved the merger on Thursday. Sanpaolo gained 1 percent during the week to €17.14, while Intesa added 3.6 percent to €5.46. But France’s Credit Agricole, which said on Wednesday that it supports the Intesa/Sanpaolo deal, dropped 4.6 percent to €34. The gains for Intesa and Sanpaolo came despite a downgrade for both banks Italian banks from Credit Suisse.

In another merger saga, MAN upped its bid for Scania during the week. Both Scania and shareholder Investor rejected the offer. It appeared that Volkswagen, however, which has been blocking the deal in favor of a three-way merger between itself, Scania and MAN, has changed its mind and will support the MAN/Scania merger. Scania’s A shares added 3.3 percent to SKr490 over the week. MAN was up 3.6 percent to €70.26.

In the telecommunications sector, Ericsson B shares were 6 percent higher during the week to SKr27.35 after its joint venture to manufacture cell phones with Sony posted a profit margin of 14.8 percent.

Despite a round of profit-taking on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was still 0.1 percent higher on the session to close at 1,425.39.

Banks were mixed on the day. Gainers include Italian banks Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI as well as Societe Generale. Intesa and Sanpaolo were both higher after Credit Agricole said that it would support the proposed merger between the two Italian banks. Intesa was 1.3 percent higher to €5.61, while Sanpaolo gained 1.4 percent to €17.91. Societe Generale added 2.5 percent to €129.60.

Credit Agricole itself, however, dropped 5.1 percent to €33.70 on the support announcement and after it said it was thinking about a rights issue worth €4 billion for the first part of next year in order to fund the purchase of 600 Intesa branches. Dresdner Kleinwort, UBS, and ABN Amro all issued downgrades on Agricole.

Other banks seeing declines on the session included Raiffeisen International, which fell 0.6 percent to €88, Erste Bank, down 1.7 percent to €51.09, and Natexis Banque Populaire, which dropped 4.1 percent to €225.

The telecommunications sector saw gains on the day. Ericsson B shares added 4.6 percent to SKr27.30 on the news that its joint venture in the manufacture of handsets with Sony produced double the best estimates of pre-tax profits in the third quarter. Telecom Italia was 4.3 percent higher to €2.33 on a report that a French-Polish financier has purchased shares in the company. Bids rumors sent Deutsche Telekom up 2.6 percent to €12.77.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 percent on Tuesday to 1,423.36, a new five-year high level, on strength in financial and banking sectors.

German non-life insurer Allianz added 2 percent to €143.32 on the expectation that the value of its investment in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will increase after that bank’s IPO in Hong Kong and Shanghai later in the month. Ras Holding, an Allianz subsidiary, was also higher, gaining 2.2 percent to €22.64.

Banks were mixed but mostly higher on the session. Spanish bank Banesto, which reported net profits up by 17.1 percent in nine months, still dropped 0.4 percent to €16.20 when the increase was not up to projections. However, Santander, which owns a majority of Banesto, added 2.2 percent to €13.18.

Meanwhile, in Italy, Banca Intesa gained 2.7 percent to €5.54 as it came close to an agreement to sell some of its branches to Credit Agricole as part of the terms required to complete its merger with Sanpaolo IMI, which added 2.4 percent on the session to €17.66.

Among Austrian banks, Erste Bank added 3.9 percent to €51.99 on positive comments from Bear Stearns and from Dresdner Kleinwort. Rival Raiffeisen International was 4.4 percent higher to €88.50.

In the transport equipment sector, MAN was down another 0.6 percent to €68.05, while Scania was 2.4 percent lower to SKr432.50. Volvo, meanwhile, was 3 percent higher to SKr445.

Banks were mixed on Monday in Europe as mergers and acquisition talk carried over from last week. Meanwhile, gains in technology stocks helped lead the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up by 0.4 percent to 1,364.89. Oil companies were down as crude oil prices fell again.

European oil companies were lower after crude oil prices fell on a reduced chance that there would be any damage to oil interests in the Gulf of Mexico from the current storm in the region. Norsk Hydro was 0.9 percent lower to NKr167, while Statoil dropped 1.1 percent to NKr174.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics added 1.4 percent to €12.70. Infineon gained 2 percent to €9.03.

Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI were down slightly after last week’s gains on the strength of a proposed merger as shareholders began to have doubts about the deal worked out by the boards of the two banks in a Saturday meeting. Sanpaolo was 1.4 percent lower to €15.87, while Intesa dropped 1.6 percent to €4.99.

Spanish bank Santander, which owns 8.4 percent of Sanpaolo, added 0.7 percent to €12.08. Meanwhile, it was said that Credit Agricole, which owns almost 18 percent of Intesa, was trying to set terms for the deal, especially surrounding the issue of branches to be sold after any merger. Agricole added 1 percent to €32.75.

Elsewhere in the banking sector, Deutsche Postbank was 3.1 percent higher to €62.01 after it was said that Deutsche Post was ready to sell its 50.1 percent holding. On speculation that Deutsche Bank might be interesting in buying, Deutsche Bank added 0.4 percent to €89.02. Deutsche Post gained 2.5 percent to €19.57 on the speculation.

Greek banks, however, were down on the day after a terrorist attack at a Turkish coastal resort. A number of Greek banks have holdings in Turkish banks. EFG Eurobank, which owns EFG Istanbul Securities, and Alpha Bank each dropped 1.2 percent to €23.98 and €20.86 respectively. National Bank of Greece, which finalized its purchase of Finansbank of Turkey just last week, declined by 1.8 percent to €30.50.

Banks were in the spotlight in Europe again on Friday, sending the FTSE Eurofirst 300 0.1 percent higher on both the session and the week, to close at 1,359.21.

The major news of the week was a possible merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in Italy. It was learned Friday that the boards of the two banks will meet on Saturday to discuss the possibilities for a deal. Many major shareholders have already expressed approval of the idea, including Credit Agricole, Intesa’s biggest shareholder. Additionally, analysts predicted a minimum of regulatory complications for such a merger. Santander, owner of 8.4 percent of Sanpaolo had no comment, except to say that a sale of its stake would bring it a €1.2 billion capital gain.

Credit Agricole was 1.4 percent higher on the week to €32.44, Intesa gained 6.4 percent to €5.066, and Sanpaolo added 9.4 percent to €16.101. Santander, meanwhile, dropped 0.7 percent to €12.

If the Intesa/Sanpaolo merger materializes, some analysts estimate that up to 300 branches could be sold, with Capitalia and UniCredit as possible purchasers. This news produced mixed results as Capitalia added 5.3 percent to €6.98, but UniCredit declined by 3.4 percent to €6.093.

All of the mergers and acquisitions speculation coming out of Italy heightened talk of takeovers in the wider European banking sector. In France, Natexis Banque Populaires was 2.6 percent higher to €202.30. Commerzbank, a frequent target of takeover speculation, was up 5.3 percent to €27.12.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.4 percent higher to 1,357.94 on Thursday as much of the Italian banking sector saw gains on the day. The success of the sector also sent the S&P/MIB index in Italy up by 1.2 percent to 37,733.

The major exception to the gains in Italian banks was UniCredit, which was 0.4 percent lower to €6.207. Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI were both higher on news that they are in talks toward a merger which, if completed, would create Italy’s second largest bank, behind UniCredit. Intesa was 7.6 percent higher to €5.025, while Sanpaolo added 6.1 percent to €15.558. Elsewhere in Italy, Mediobanca was up 5.1 percent to €17.064 and Capitalia advanced by 2.9 percent to €6.763.

Other gainers included Swatch, which added 4.3 percent to SFr47 on higher profits and sales. Credit Suisse issued positive comments on the Swiss watchmaker. In the telecommunications equipment sector, Ericsson added 0.9 percent to SKr22.90 on the announcement that it had secured a $1 billion contract with Indian telecom Bharti Airtel to upgrade and expand its network. EADS gained back part of its losses earlier in the week that were due to concerns over delays in two big development projects, adding 2.5 percent to €22.60.

The oil sector saw declines after gasoline inventories in the United States rose unexpectedly last week. Statoil dropped 0.9 percent to NKr176, while Neste Oil declined by 1 percent to €25.42.

Cement maker Holcim dropped 1.2 percent to SFr98 even though profits in the first half were up b y 44 percent. Holcim’s German rival Heidelberg Cement also dropped 1.2 percent, to €97.50, while Lafarge dropped 0.3 percent to €99.30. All were affected by the news out of the United States on Wednesday that house sales are down, raising concerns about construction markets around the world.

Advances in technology stocks and the banking sector took the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up by 2.2 percent on Wednesday to 1,299.19. It was the first day of gains after four consecutive days of losses for the 300.

In Italy, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena was 4.4 percent higher to €4.54 as new rumors circulated that Sanpaolo IMI might be interested in offering. Sanpaolo added 2.8 percent to €13.68. Nordea added 5.5 percent to SKr85.75 after it released a more positive quarterly report than had been expected. Credit Agricole was up 5.6 percent to €30.15 on the possibility that it would be the only bidder for Emporiki Bank of Greece, which dropped 3.7 percent to €25. Bank of Cyprus was rumored to be considering pulling out of the bidding over difficulties involving pension costs; it added 8.8 percent on the session to €7.14.

Among telecommunications companies, Nokia was 5.4 percent higher to €15.56 on an upgrade by Lehman Brothers, from “equal weight” to “overweight”, ahead of its quarterly report, due later in the day. Meanwhile, Ericsson gained 6.9 percent to SKr23.20 on news that it has secured a contract to build a GSM network for Brazilian telecom Vivo.

In the semiconductor sector, Infineon was up 3.2 percent to €8.73, while STMicroelectronics gained 4.9 percent to €12.35 and ASML advanced by 6.4 percent to €15.80 on record net profits in the second quarter.

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.