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.

European equities markets began the new year with gains on Tuesday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1.2 percent to 1,501.83, the first time it has closed above 1,500 since February 2001. Meanwhile, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax gained 1.2 percent and the CAC 40 was up 1.4 percent.

Utilities were still in the grip of bids rumors. The Suez/Gaz de France merger looked to be in more trouble. A court decision put the deal in doubt when it ruled that the merger cannot go further until European Union energy markets are fully liberalized on July 1. Added to that, there were rumors that a French billionaire is considering a bid for Suez, which he would then break up. According to these reports, he would sell the company’s energy assets to Gaz de France, but its environmental division would go to Veolia Environment. All the talk left Gaz de France steady at €34.85, while Suez added 1.9 percent to €39.90 after going as high as €40.50 during the session. Veolia, on the other hand, dropped 4.1 percent to €56 after significant gains on Friday.

In the retail sector, German retailer Metro added 5.7 percent to €51.06 on reports that one of its largest shareholders is going to raise its stake. The gains came even though the reports were denied. Also helping was a report from the German Retail Association that showed sales up substantially in December in the face of an expected drop.

Steelmaker ThyssenKrupp was 2.8 percent higher to €36.69 as consolidation hopes for the sector were given another boost by the news that Harris Steel of Canada has agreed to be taken over b y US company Nucor.

European equities markets were up on Tuesday, mainly on gains in the energy sector spurred on by a bidding war for Spain’s Endsea.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.7 percent to 1,355.05. In Frankfurt, the Xetra Dax fained 0.7 percent as well, to 5,836.56, while in Paris the CAC 40 was up to 5,013.78.

Eon, Germany’s largest energy firm, has launched a counter bid for Endsea, which has already received an offer from Gas Natural, another Spanish company. Because Eon’s bid is nearly three times Gas Natural’s market value, it isn’t considered likely that Gas Natural will improve its bid. However, Gas Natural is expected by some analysts to instead bid for Iberdrola.

Eon was trading up 2.9 percent to €96.10 after an initial decline. Endsea was up 9.4 percent to €27.87, while Iberdrola gained 6.7 percent to €27.05 and Gas Natural was up 0.9 percent to €24.56. Other European utilities also benefited from the speculation. Suez was up 3.3 percent to €30.66, Energias de Portugal gained 3.5 percent to €2.94, RWE rose 3.6 percent to €72.80, and Veolia Environment advanced by 3.9 percent to €44.00.

In other sectors, brewer Carlsberg was down 3.4 percent to DKr369 despite reporting a full-year operating profit up 3.4 percent from 2004, well below the 7.3 percent increase that had been expected.

Swedish bank Svenska Handelsbanken, however, reported higher than predicted operating profits for the full year, sending its shares up 4.4 percent to SKr201.