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.

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.4 percent on the session to close at 1,525.97 after being unable to hold on to gains earlier in the day.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, DaimlerChrysler was 0.6 percent lower to €48.51 despite an upgrade of its target share price from €50 to €55 from JP Morgan.  The broker’s move was prompted by the belief that the carmaker could announce a plan to return Chrysler to profit when it announces results next month.

In the electronics sector, Philips Electronics fell 1.7 percent to €28.88 on mixed results in the fourth quarter.  According to the report, net profits were higher than had been anticipated on lower tax rates and one-time gains.  Sales, however, did not meet expectations.  Philips also raised its dividend for 2006.

Gains in oil prices led to losses in a couple of sectors.  Lufthansa dropped 3.2 percent in the airlines sector.  Meanwhile, in the chemicals sector, agrochemicals manufacturer Syngenta was down 2.8 percent to SFr233, while Rhodia fell 3.5 percent to €2.80.

Among producers of luxury goods, Swatch added 2 percent to SFr287.50 on the announcement that its sales were up by 12.3 percent in 2006.  Broker comments were positive, with Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse reiterating recommendations of “overweight” and “outperform” respectively.  Credit Suisse said its target share price on the watchmaker, currently SFr300, was under review, while Lehman Brothers upped its target share price for the company from SFr270 to SFr315.

In the banking sector, Raiffeisen International added 3.7 percent to €113.64 on raised target share prices from Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley as optimism continued in relation to the bank’s business interests in Russia and in eastern Europe.  Merrill Lynch upped Raiffeisen’s targets share price to €140, while Morgan Stanley set raised its target for the bank to €83.80, citing the possibility that investors might be putting too much emphasis on its Russian exposure.

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 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.

In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent on the day to close at 1,376.57, down for the first time on over two weeks of trading sessions. On the other hand, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax gained 0.3 percent to 5,947.11 several German companies saw advances on the day.

Utilities were down as merger talks remained in the news. Italy’s Enel dropped 0.7 percent to €7.02 despite a 48 percent gain in net profits for the full year and the announcement of an increased dividend. Suez also dropped 0.7 percent to €34.37, while Gaz de France declined by 0.9 percent.

Banks were up, led by Commerzbank, which added 2.9 percent to €31.94 on an upgrade to “buy” from UBS. Goldman Sachs raised its earnings predictions on several Nordic banks, sending their shares up as well. SEB gained 2.5 percent to SKr186.50, while Nordea Bank was up 1.3 percent to SKr95, Swedbank added 1.2 percent to SKr213.50, and SHB rose 0.5 percent to SKr211.

Swiss watchmaker Swatch lost 2.2 percent to SFr220.10 on a profits report that did not meet expectations.

Among the companies that helped the Xetra Dax on the day were Schering, Lufthansa, and Infineon. Chipmaker Infineon gained 8.5 percent to €8.92, while pharmaceutical company Schering was up 2.7 percent to €85.23 on reports that Bayer was thinking about bidding for the company, which is already facing a hostile takeover attempt from Merck. Lufthansa added 5.4 percent to €14.52 on the announcement that it’s full year operating profits were up by 51 percent.