In Europe on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the day in positive territory on a late rally. Investors seemed to discount inflation and interest rate worries even though the minutes of the most recent meeting of the US Federal Reserve, released during the day, were taken to mean that US interest rates are likely to rise again when the Fed meets later in the month.

The telecommunications sector was mixed on the day, although there were more gainers than losers. TeliaSonera dropped 4.3 percent to SKr45.80 after it admitted that its chief executive and another company official had been charged with bribery in relation to a product-launch event. Elsewhere in the sector, Dresden Kleinwort Wasserstein suggested that its clients investing in telecoms to leave Telefonica in favor of Telecom Italia. Telefonica still added 0.1 percent to €12.78 and Telecom Italia was up 1.4 percent to €2.215. Belgacom gained 3.4 percent to €25.43 on a target share price increase from €29 to €29.90 from Bear Stearns, which also reconfirmed its “outperform” rating on the company’s shares. France Telecom advanced by 0.7 percent to €17.58.

Banks were also mixed on the day. National Bank of Greece lost 5.8 percent to €31.88 after shareholders gave their approval to a rights issue intended to raise the funds to purchase a stake in Finansbank of Turkey. Another Greek bank, Alpha Bank, also saw declines on the day as it dropped 2.9 percent to €18.96. EFG Eurobank, however, added 0.1 percent to €22.06. Elsewhere, the Bank of Ireland added 5 percent to €14.15 when Lehman Brothers upped its targets share price for the bank from €13.80 to €15.17.

Utilities saw declines after several energy suppliers were raided in an investigation into anti-competitive practices. Eon, one of those utilities targeted in the raids, dropped 0.1 percent to €89.87. Also in Germany, RWE dropped 1.2 percent to €65.85. Gaz de France also declined, by 0.6 percent to €27.16.

In Europe on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1 percent to 1,306.63. Despite the gain, the index was down 5.2 percent for the month, the largest monthly decline in over two years. The day’s advance came on gains in the telecommunications and steel sectors.

Banks were mixed on the day. Capitalia and Banca Intesa were both up on renewed rumors of a merger between the two Italian banks. Capitalia added 3.6 percent to €6.4650 and Intesa gained 2.2 percent to €4.5180. National Bank of Greece was also up, adding 6.4 percent to €32.24 on a positive first-quarter earnings report. Belgian bank Dexia, however, was down 1.8 percent to €19.16 when it said that it will purchase 75 percent of Denizbank in Turkey now, and will offer for the remaining 25 percent of the bank when it gets the approval of regulators.

The telecommunications sector was up after having performed badly since the beginning of the year. Telekom Austria added 0.1 percent to €17.41 after Deutsche Bank raised its rating from “hold” to “buy”. OTE (Hellenic Telecom) was up 1.8 percent to €17.30 after a positive earnings report and on positive comments from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which reiterated its “buy” recommendation. Telefonica was up 2.4 percent to €12.77. Telenor gained 2.7 percent to NKr76.75 on the announcement that it has won a contract to provide automatic meter reading for a Nordic energy company.

Elsewhere in the sector, KPN was up 2.6 percent to €8.95, while Telecom Italia added 3.2 percent to €1.9910 and France Telecom gained 4.2 percent to €17.46.

In the steel sector, Corus added 2.2 percent to €5.70. While it reported that earnings in the first quarter were down from the same period last year, they were still better than had been expected. Arcelor, meanwhile, was up 1.4 percent to €33.30 even though shareholders are still in upheaval over its plans to merge with Russian company Severstal.

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.5 percent to 1,364.9 on worries that both US and eurozone interest rates could be going up again soon. The likelihood that eurozone rates could go up again was increased by new data on German business confidence that was up more than had been expected.

The telecommunications sector was instrumental in the declines after the European Commission said it will cut international roaming charges on calls made from mobile phones. The plan could cut charges to consumers by as much as 60 percent. UK mobile company Vodafone was down 4 percent to 119½p. Spanish company Telifonica Moviles lost 0.8 percent to €10.74. TeliaSonera, listed in Stockholm, dropped 1.3 percent to SKr46.40.

There were also losses among fixed-line telecommunications companies. Hellenic Telecom dropped 3 percent to €17.80, Telekom Austria was down 2.5 percent to €19.42, and France Telecom declined by 1.5 percent to €18.71.

Among insurers, Alleanza of Italy was down 4.9 percent to €9.95 even though it said net profits would be up by 30 percent by 2008. Swiss Life dropped 4 percent to SFr266 as investors worried that most of its 44 percent profits in 2005 had been due to one-time income.

In the biotechnology sector, Swiss company Serono added 2 percent to SFr933 on rumors that a bid for the company would be forthcoming soon.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained only a fraction on the day to close at 1,368.74 on Thursday on mixed results in several sectors.

The telecommunications sector saw investors’ interest raised after Spanish company Telefonica announced that it will buy out minority shares of Telefonaica Moviles. Shares in Moviles were 2.2 percent higher at the close, at €10.72, after having gone as high as €11.50 during the day. However, Telefonica closed at €13.20, down 0.9 percent on the day.

The automobile manufacturing sector was up on the day. BMW was barely up, closing at €42.72 even though it had been upgraded from “neutral” to “buy” by Merrill Lynch. Fiat was up as well, by 1.9 percent to €9.31, on news that sales were up by 11.5 percent in February, taking its market share to 8.8 percent. Also helping Fiat was data showing car registrations in Europe up by 2.1 percent. Renault gained 1.1 percent to €82.90 even though sales were down by 5.7 percent in February, reducing its market share from 10.2 percent to 9.4 percent.

In utilities Gaz de France was up 2.6 percent to €30.31on an increased dividend and a forecast for more increases in profits in 2006.

Among stock market operators, Deutsche Borse added 2.8 percent to €117.21on its upcoming merger with Euronext, which also saw an advance, gaining 2.1 percent to €64.