In the eurozone on Thursday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.7 percent to 1,178.96 on profit-taking and a number of companies that did not meet quarterly expectations.

In the banking sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s unfavorable earnings report had an effect on the rest of the sector. The Bank of Ireland was down 2.6 percent to €13.39 after it announced that it will fund a Canadian rail project. Fortis lost 1.4 percent to €24.14.

Allied Irish Bank declined by 0.8 percent to €17.65. However, Germany’s Commerzbank gained 2.6 percent to €19.83 on good performance Wednesday and the expectation of a return to go to investors.

In the oil sector, Total, the world’s fourth largest oil company, reported a 33 percent increase in net profits in the second quarter. However, its quarterly profit of €2.91 billion was only even with predictions. In consequence, shares of Total dropped 1.3 percent to €208.80.

Neste Oil was up 0.4 percent to €23.80 after hitting an all-time high of €25.05 earlier in the day. This gain followed the announcement of a 17 percent rise in operating profits in the second quarter, above forecasts.

Austria’s OMV lost 0.7 percent to €39.20, Italy’s ENI fell 1.3 percent to €25.53, and Norway’s Norsk Hydro lost 1.6 percent to NKr627.00.

In the automotive sector, BMW fell 2.2 percent to €37.13 on less-than-expected first half earnings. DaimlerChrysler was down 2.4 percent to €40.34 in spite of an increase in July sales, up 2.2 percent to 100,200 units on the strong performance of its Mercedes Benz division.

Even with that result, however, group sales were down 1.3 percent in the year through July. Elsewhere in the sector, Porsche lost 2.6 percent to €638.03, Fiat fell 2.8 percent to €6.9040, and Renault declined by 1.7 percent to €76.25.