In Europe on Thursday Germany’s Xetra Dax index was down by 0.1 percent to 4,906.0, again affected by investors’ worries over the outcome of parliamentary elections to be held on Sunday.

However, the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 did a bit better, gaining 0.1 percent to 1,206.45 although election nerves affected it as well.

In the oil sector, an upgrade by UBS still resulted in mixed results. Norsk Hydro and OMV both were upgraded from “neutral” to “buy”, and Norsk Hydro gained 1.4 percent to NKr726.

OMV, however, fell by 1.3 percent to €47.0. In the banking sector, ABM Amro offered €26.50 per share for the 29.5 percent of Banca Antonveneta presently owned by Banca Popolare Italiana.

If the deal goes through, ABM will become the first foreign bank to own a major Italian bank. On this development, ABM gained 1.4 percent to €19.84, Antonveneta fell by 0.9 percent to €26.19, and BPI lost 1.4 percent to €8.555.

In the telecommunications sector, TDC added 6.8 percent to DKr328.0 on rumors that two separate groups were ready to tender bids for the company. Elsewhere in the sector, Swisscom, which has also been mentioned as a possible bidder for TDC, was up 1.8 percent to SFr426.75, while Portugal Telecom gained 2.5 percent to €7.75 even though it reported that net profits in the first half were off from the same period last year.