In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.3 percent higher to 1,522.27.

The airline sector was higher on news from mergers and acquisitions, as well as on recent broker upgrades and recent lower oil prices. Lufthansa was 1.8 percent higher to €21.76 and Iberia of Spain gained 2.3 percent to €3.17. Ryanair added 8 percent to €11.12. Air France-KLM was up 7.2 percent to €35.01 after it said that the time was not right for it to bid on more shares in Alitalia. It already has a strategic partnership with the Italian air carrier. Alitalia was not lacking for suitors however, as it has received expressions of interest from 11 potential bidders. The Italian airline added 3.6 percent on the session to €1.13.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Sanofi-Aventis dropped 0.7 percent to €68.55 even though rumors continued to circulate that it is near the announcement of a merger with US pharma Bristol-Myers Squibb. The decline came as analysts at Bear Sterns said that the large amount of cash that would have to be part of the deal in order for Bristol-Myers to accept a deal could dilute earnings. However Bear Sterns and Deutsche Bank both said that there would be advantages to such a deal.

The telecommunications sector was mixed. Deutsche Telekom dropped 0.1 percent to €13.59, but France Telecom added 0.5 percent to €21.29 and Telecom Italia gained 0.7 percent to €2.29.

In Europe on Monday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.3 percent to 1,517.07 on Monday despite declines in the telecommunications sector.

Telecoms were lower after Deutsche Telekom issued its second profits warning in six months, citing competition and currency issues. Citigroup lowered its recommendation on the German telecom from “hold” to “sell” and Deutsche Telekon dropped 4 percent to €13.60. Elsewhere in the sector, France Telecom fell 0.9 percent to €21.18, while Telecom Italia and Swisscom were each 1.5 percent lower, to €2.27 and SFr471.50 respectively.

Car and truck manufacturers was gains on the session. On rumors that it could be a target for Volvo, MAN added 2.6 percent to €78.86. Volvo was 1 percent higher on the talk, to SKr502, while Scania, the recent target of MAN’s failed hostile bid, was up 3.5 percent to SKr485. Fiat gained 2.8 percent to €16.67 on a target share price hike from JP Morgan.

The airline sector was up on merger hopes and on upgrades from UBS, which raised its recommendation on Lufthansa and Iberia from “neutral” to “buy” and hiked target share prices for both Ryanair and Air France-KLM. Lufthansa was up 1.1 percent to €21.38, Ryanair gained 1.3 percent to €11.04, Air France was 1.5 percent higher to €32.67, and Iberia gained 3.3 percent to €3.10. Meanwhile, Alitalia added 1.9 percent to €1.10.

In a holiday shortened week, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.2 percent to close on Friday at 1,486.08. Gains peaked on Wednesday when the index breached the 1,500 level.

Airlines did well during the week as falling crude oil prices provided the hope that fuel costs would decline. Ryanair added 5.3 percent to €10.98, while Air France-KLM was 7.2 percent higher to €34.20. Lufthansa was also helped by positive comments from brokers after it sold its 50 percent share of travel company Thomas Cook, gaining 7.8 percent over the week to €22.47.

The telecommunications sector also saw gains. Telecom Italia added 3.1 percent to €2.36, while Deutsche Telekom was 4.4 percent higher to €14.45 and KPN gained 4.9 percent to €11.30.

On the other hand, European utilities were hurt by concerns that European Union regulators would come down hard on the sector after an investigation found evidence of misbehavior. Gaz de France was 1 percent lower to €34.50 and Suez fell 2.1 percent to €38.42 among rumors that a bid for Suez from a French billionaire could prevent their proposed merger. Elsewhere in the sector, RWE dropped 3.6 percent to €80.50, while Eon was down 5.4 percent to €97.26 and Veolia Environment fell 9.2 percent over the week to €53.05.

The oil sector was hurt by falling crude oil prices. Total ended the week 3.5 percent lower to €52.75, while Neste Oil dropped 5 percent to €21.89 and Statoil fell 5.9 percent to NKr155.50.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,487.41 on Monday, its first losing session after ten consecutive gains. In Norway, however, the Oslo All-Share index added 1.8 percent after Norsk Hydro saw big gains on the session.

The gain for Norsk Hydro, 20.6 percent to NKr188.50, came after rival Statoil said the two will merge their oil and gas businesses to become the largest offshore oil operation in the world. Norsk’s aluminium business will continue as a stand-alone. The news sent Statoil down 1.7 percent to NKr170 after gains earlier in the session, closing at NKr170. The decline for Statoil came despite a “strong buy” rating from S&P Equitiy Research, which also set a 12-month target share price of NKr194.

The telecommunications sector was mixed on the day. Telecom Italia added 0.2 percent to €2.32, but both France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom saw declines. France Telecom dropped 0.2 percent to €20.94, but is still up 35 percent from its low point of the year, reached on August 11. Lehman Brothers issued positive comments, but WestLB was more pessimistic, downgrading its rating from “hold” to “reduce”. Deutsche Telekom fell 0.9 percent to €13.83 even though Credit Suisse upped its target share price from €10.50 to €12.50.

The insurance sector was also affected by broker actions. Italian insurer Generali dropped 1.1 percent to €34 on a downgrade from “add” to “reduce” from Dresdner Kleinwort.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was higher on Wednesday, but only by 0.9 points to 1,440.02 as investors were reluctant to do much ahead of new data on US employment, due to be released Thursday.

Banks were higher after Anglo Irish Bank said that its full-year pre-tax profits were higher than had been expected and predicted that its good performance will continue into next year. Anglo Irish was up 3.3 percent to €14.82. The announcement and forecast helped Allied Irish Banks to gain 1.7 percent to €21.67, while Bank of Ireland added 2.3 percent to €16.73.

Deutsche Post added 0.6 percent to €23.50 on positive broker comments after making presentations focusing on its DHL Express unit. Credit Suisse raised Deutsch Post’s target share price from €23.5 to €27, while Citigroup held its target share price at €21.50 but said there was a potential for valuation to rise.

In the oil sector, Norsk Hydro was 3 percent lower to NKr147.25 after it said that its production until 2010 will be lower than it previously estimated due to capacity limitations within the industry. Statoil followed Norsk down, falling 1.6 percent to NKr168.50.

Among telecommunications companies, Telecom Italia dropped 0.8 percent to €2.25 on a downgrade from “hold” to “sell” from ABN Amro, which cited operational weakness and limits on value creation.

French retailer PPR was 2.2 percent lower to €113.50 after a placement of 900,000 shares by Morgan Stanley.

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.

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.6 percent to 1,366.20. Among the influences sending stocks lower was new data showing German investor sentiment lower, a slow start in the New York markets, and a state of emergency that was declared in Thailand due to an attempted coup there.

The telecommunications sector was in the news during the session. Telecom Italia dropped 1.4 percent to €2.17 on the news that its unions have called a strike for October 3 to protest TI’s restructuring. Also hurting the Italian telecom’s share price was a broker downgrade from Morgan Stanley, which lowered TI’s rating from “equal weight” to “underweight” and dropped its target share price from €2.50 to €2.10.

Elsewhere, the telecoms were more successful. Deutsche Telekom overcame the news of the German confidence decline to add 0.2 percent to €11.71. Morgan Stanley issued an upgrade from “equal weight” to “overweight” and set its target share price at €13.10. Sonaecom gained 4.9 percent to €5.19 as investors hoped that the Portuguese government will allow it’s hostile bid for Portugal Telecom, which was 0.4 percent higher to €9.79, to go forward.

The semiconductors sector was lower on the session even though both Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank issued positive comments. STMicroelectronics dropped 0.5 percent to €13.11, while Infineon declined by 1.4 percent to €9.61.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.2 percent on Wednesday to 1,369.99 as the vehicle manufacturing sector saw advances on the session.

Driving the sector was news that German truck manufacturer MAN is thinking of offering for Swedish rival Scania. MAN will have to convince Volkswagen, which owns a 34 percent voting share in Scania, and holding company Investor, which votes 19 percent of the Swedish company, that the merger is a good idea. Dresdner Kleinwort has said it thinks the deal makes sense.

While MAN dropped 0.9 percent to €60.12, Scania B shares added 8.3 percent to SKr422. Volkswagen gained 2 percent to €64.28 and Investor B shares were 2.7 percent higher to SKr150.5. Volvo, the second-largest truck manufacturer in the world, added 1.1 percent on the news, to SKr443.50.

In the telecommunications sector, Telecom Italia dropped 0.9 percent to €2.27 as the Italian government and unions reacted negatively to the radical restructuring plan announced by TI on Monday. Unions have reportedly begun making plans to strike.

Elsewhere in Italy, broadcaster Mediaset was 4.7 percent lower to €8.67 after it said it will likely miss its target for growth in advertising sales by 2 to 3 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.5 percent on Monday to 1,349.51despite advances in the telecommunications sector spurred by last week’s gains by Telecom Italia. Oil stocks were lower due to declining oil prices.

Telecom Italia added over 4 percent last week when it became known that it is thinking about selling its wireless division. While trade was suspended on TI on Monday while its board met to consider reorganization, the rest of the sector saw gains. Telefonica was 0.9 percent higher to €13.18, while KPN added 1.4 percent to €9.86, Deutsche Telekom gained 3 percent to €11.57, and France Telecom advanced by 3.5 percent to €17.15. The European fixed-line sector was up 1.5 percent as a whole.

Roche dropped 4.6 percent to SFr215.20 after the US Food and Drug Administration asked for more information about the Avastin cancer treatment currently under review for the treatment of breast cancer. The drug is produced by Genentech, in which Roche owns a controlling interest.

In the oil sector, Neste Oil dropped 2.5 percent to €22.37 even though UBS issued an upgrade. OMV was 3.1 percent lower to €39.40, while Statoil fell 4.8 percent to NKr158.50.

Michelin added 1.6 percent to €52.75 on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from UBS, which also raised the tire maker’s target share price from €46 to €60 on price declines in rubber that it believes is not just temporary.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up by 0.4 percent on Friday, but ended the week down 1.5 percent from where it began on Monday, closing out the session at 1,356.66.

In the telecommunications sector, Telecom Italia was 1.4 percent higher on Friday, to €2.26, ending the week 4.2 percent higher on talk that it will sell its mobile phone operations for around €35 billion. It has also been rumored that it might divest itself of its fixed-line network. The news spurred Dresdner Kleinwort to repeat its “buy” recommendation and target share price of €40. Pirelli, the biggest shareholder in the company controlling Telecom Italia added 4.7 percent on the day and was 11.6 percent higher on the week to, closing at €0.77. Meanwhile, mobile handset maker Nokia fell 6.1 percent to €15.15 this week as rumors that it will issue a profits warning soon continued to circulate.

In the retail sector, Ahold gained 3.3 percent during the week to €7.73, but JP Morgan was not impressed, saying that management had not adequately explained why the company’s US results were so much better in the second quarter than in the first, saying that if second-quarter gains were largely from one-off factors that they should not be used to predict future results. Elswhere, Metro dropped 6 percent to €43.32 after a group of shareholders said that they will sell their 5.4 percent stake in the German retailer.