European equities markets were up on Friday, ending the week up as well. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.3 percent on the day to 1,207.0, bringing its gains for the week to 1.9 percent. Meanwhile, German’s Xetra Dax index closed above 5,000 for the first time since May 2002.

Utilities were in the news during the week. Endsea was the recipient of an unsolicited takeover bid from Gas Natural, which it rebuffed, gaining 9.6 percent over the week in the process to close the week at €20.35. Gas Natural lost 3 percent to €23.80.

Meanwhile, Eon said it was thinking about bidding for Scottish Power, sending its shares up 0.6 percent to €79.31. Iberdrola, Spain’s second-biggest electricity company, was up 5.5 percent to €22.24 and the third-largest electricity supplier in Spain, Union Fenosa, gained 8.6 percent to €25.98.

There were takeover rumors in the banking sector as well, as there was talk that a group of Saudi investors was thinking about trying for German bank HVB group and that Allianz was considering selling its investment banking unit, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. HVB rose by 1.2 percent to €23.65, while Allianz gained 5.5 percent to €109.07.

The banking sector also saw gains elsewhere. Deutsche Bank was up 8.1 percent to €77.21, UBS gained 4.2 percent to SFr107.50, and Credit Agricole added 8.6 percent to €23.48.