In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,544.99. The real estate and oil sectors were lower, while carmakers saw gains.

Porsche (Xetra: POR3; FWB: POR3) added 2.7 percent to €1,058.31, while Volkswagen (OTC: VLKAY) gained 8 percent to €94.94 on a full-year report that showed operating profit up 52 percent in 2006.

Brewers were mixed after Carlsberg (OMX: CARL A, CARL B) said that higher capital expenditures would limit 2007 profit growth. Even though its full-year report fulfilled expectations, the Danish brewer dropped 6.7 percent to DKr583. Heineken (Euronext: HEIA) was also lower, by 2.3 percent to €39.36, ahead of its report that is due Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the sector, InBev (Euronext: INB; NYSE: ABV) gained 0.5 percent to €53.07 as rumors of a merger with Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) continue to circulate. Grolsch (Euronext: GROL) added 3.3 percent to €32.94 after it reported that full-year profits exceeded expectations and announced an extra dividend.

The oil sector declined on lower prices for crude oil. Total (Euronext: FP; NYSE: TOT) dropped 1.5 percent to €52.78, while Statoil (OSE: STL; NYSE: STO) fell 1.6 percent to NKr156.

In the real estate sector, Unibail (PAR: UL) was 1.3 percent lower to €235.80 on a downgrade from “buy” to “hold” from Deutsche Bank. Also hurting the sector as a whole was news out of the UK that rising interest rates there are hurting the market.

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.4 percent to 1,321.04 as quarterly earnings reports began to be issued by European companies.

French property group Unibail added 1.7 percent to €135.10 ahead of its half-year earnings report, due later in the month. Merrill Lynch upgraded Unibail to “buy” based on the upward trend of office rents in Paris and issued a target share price of €150.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics dropped 0.4 percent to €12.20 after a downgrade from “buy” to “neutral” and a decrease in its target share price from UBS. On the other hand, UBS reissued “buy” ratings for both ASML and Phillips Electronics. ASML added 0.5 percent to €15.44, while Phillips was up 1.1 percent to €23.96. Elsewhere, Infineon gained 1.7 percent to €8.98.

The oil sector saw declines as crude oil prices fell from record highs last week. OMV was down 1.8 percent to €47.71, while Statoil dropped 1.9 percent to NKr183.50.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Roche added 0.6 percent to SFr207.20 after it said that it has filed with European regulators to gain approval for its drug Avastin for use against breast cancer. In addition, the way was cleared via a ruling from the International Trade Commission for Roche to apply for US approval for CERA, an experimental anemia drug.