In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.21 percent to 1,216.44. In Germany, however, the outcome of elections there on Sunday sent the Xetra Dax down 1.2 percent to 4,926.13.

The business community was especially disappointed that the candidate and party they backed, Angela Merkel and the Christian Democratic Union party won only 3 more seats in parliament than did Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democrats.

Two of the biggest losers were utilities Eon and RWE, which had stood to gain in the event of a big Christian Democratic win, as Ms. Merkel had promised to continue the use of nuclear power. Mr. Schroeder, on the other hand, plans to phase out the use of nuclear power over the next 20 years. RWE lost 3 percent to €55.22, while Eon fell by 2.3 percent to €77.74.

The semiconductor sector saw gains on the day. STMicroelectronics was up 0.8 percent to €14.27 as CSFB reiterated its rating of “outperform” and raised its stock target price from €15 to €16.50. Infineon had its rating upgraded to “outperform”, gained 0.6 percent to €7.98.

Deutsche Post lost 2.2 percent to €19.54 after it said it would purchase UK logistics company Exel for £3.7 billion (€5.47 billion) in a combination of shares and cash.

The New York equities markets had a positive day on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.1 percent to 10,570.53, the S&P 500 ended the day with an increase of 0.2 percent to 1,221.79, and the Nasdaq index rose by 0.3 percent to 2,141.44.

The news was not good for everyone, however, as Merck continued its slide begun Friday with the announcement of a jury verdict against the company in the case of a man who died after taking their pain killer Vioxx. Merck dropped 0.6 percent to $27.89, bringing its two-day decline to nearly 8.3 percent.

In the semiconductor sector, Texas Instruments gained 2.5 percent to $31.95 and Intel added 1.6 percent to $26.06. Many of the gains on the day came in relation to news on mergers and acquisitions.

Canadian-owned oil producer PetroKazakhstan gained 18.4 percent to $53.75 after it accepted an offer by the China National Petroleum Corporation, which offered $55 per share for the company.

Shares in Evetech Pharmaceuticals gained 29.6 percent to $18.13 after OSI Pharmaceuticals agreed to purchase Evetech for around $935 million. The purchase didn’t help OSI, however, which saw its shares declined by 21.7 percent to $31.92.

The news that Maytag and Whirlpool had signed a formal agreement for Whirlpool to acquire Maytag did not help shares in those companies, either. Maytag lost 0.1 percent to $18.69 and Whirlpool declined by 0.4 percent to $81.48.

European equities fell for the fifth day in a row as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.2 percent to 1,186.10 at the close of trade on Wednesday.

Staffing group Adecco, the world’s largest, fell 5.9 percent on the day to SF461.80 for the worst performance by a blue-chip company after a report of second-quarter profits that were in line with predictions.

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein repeated its rating of “reduce” on the company’s shares and kept its target price at SFr57 per share after Adecco had to drop its gross margin target for the year due to bad conditions in its French market.

Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML gained 2.6 percent to €14.20 after Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein reiterated its “buy” rating and said that expectations for orders to the company in the second half are too low. Infineon was also up on the day, by 2.6 percent to €7.77, and STMicroelectronics added 2 percent to €13.76.

Elsewhere, Nestle lost 1.2 percent on the day to SFr353.75 even though profits and sales in the first half were above predictions as commodity prices held margins below what had been hoped for.

European equities markets ended the day relatively even as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed at 1,192.46 as a number of markets were closed for the observance of Assumption Day.

In the banking sector, Commerzbank lost some of its recent gains on the news that its chief executive has come under investigation in an ongoing money laundering inquiry involving the bank, losing 0.8 percent to €20.93.

The automobile manufacturing sector was down on the day as well, as BMW fell by 0.9 percent to €36.42 and Peugeot lost 0.8 percent to €51.90. Michelin was down 0.9 percent to €51.40. In the chemicals sector, Bayer lost 1 percent to €29.36 and specialty chemicals group Clariant declined by 0.8 percent to SFr18.70.

The largest pharmaceuticals wholesaler in Europe, Celesio, lost 2.9 percent to €69.01 on profit-taking after recent gains. In mergers and acquisitions, Philips Electronics was up 0.6 percent to €21.64 after it announced that it would pay around €765 million to buy a 47 percent stake in LED company Lumileds from Agilent Technologies. Philips also announced that it would buy back around €1.5 billion of its own shares in the next year.

The Tokyo equities markets were mixed on very little movement on Friday, as the Nikkei 225 closed down just 0.1 percent to 12,261.68 and the Topic gained 0.11 percent to close at 1,245.13.

The volume of shares traded hit a comparatively high 1.9 billion shares. Advances in the financial sector were balanced by losses by exporters and oil-related companies. The banking and securities sectors both saw gains on the day.

Equities broker Nomura Securities was up 1 percent to ¥1,475, while Nikko Cordial led gains in the sector when it added 1.3 percent to ¥549.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial group gained 3.1 percent to ¥837,000, MTFG was up 2 percent to ¥1,030,000, and Mizuho Financial Group gained 1.5 percent to ¥539,000.

Exporters, however, fell on the day. Honda and Canon, both of which sell nearly 75 percent of their goods in foreign markets, both lost 0.5 percent on the day, with Honda closing at ¥5,750 and Canon finishing up the day at ¥5,470. Sony, also highly dependent on foreign sales, lost 1.8 percent to ¥3,370.

In the oil sector, profit taking sent shares down and the sector as a whole lost 0.5 percent on the day. Inpex, the oil and gas explorer lost 2.9 percent on Friday to ¥826,000 after gains of 12 percent over the past two days.

The New York equities markets ended the day higher on Thursday despite crude oil prices that hit record levels Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day ahead by 0.9 percent at 10,685.89, the Nasdaq composite gained 0.8 percent to 2,174.55, and the S&P 500 was up 0.7 percent at 1,237.81.

The rise in oil prices didn’t help Delta Air Lines, which has been trying to avoid entering bankruptcy. Despite announcing that it will add larger aircraft on it’s New York to Boston and Washington shuttle routes, Delta lost 6.8 percent on the day to $1.79 amid expectations that it will file for bankruptcy soon.

Tivo fell 6.2 percent to $5.62 on the announcement by DirecTV Group that it will quit marketing Tivo digital video recorders this year and replace them with alternate technology from News Corp, which owns 34 percent of DirecTV. DirecTV’s shares fell slightly on the news, to $16.18.

News Corp itself gained 3.4 percent on the day to $18.03 after it announced a jump of 67 percent in its quarterly profits. Yahoo gained 2.2 percent to $34.94 after it said it would pay $1 billion in cash and trade its operations in China in exchange for 40 percent of Alibaba.com, the second-biggest internet auctioneer in China.

Semiconductor manufacturer Intel dropped 0.2 percent on a downgrade to “in-line” by Goldman Sachs.

In Europe on Thursday, profit-taking send the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down a bit from earlier three-year highs. The Eurofirst lost 0.3 percent to 1,195.9.

The technology sector fell on the news that US telecommunications equipment manufacturer Cisco lost value on a negative growth forecast and by reports of weaker sales of semiconductors in Germany.

German chipmaker Infineon lost 4.2 percent to €7.78. In addition, Finnish mobile phone operator Nokia was down 2.4 percent to €13.15 and STMicroelectronics declined by 2.1 percent to €13.76. The insurance sector was mostly down.

The exception was Dutch insurer Aegon, which announced second quarter profits that were up 71 percent and ended the day having gained 0.7 percent to €12.07.

Elsewhere, ING lost 2.2 percent to €24.56 on a drop of 6.7 in second quarter profits although they exceeded market expectations. CNP lost 2.5 percent to €56.15 and Sampo was down to €13.02, a loss of 2.3 percent.

Crude oil prices at record high levels sent the oil sector higher. Neste Oil added 3.9 percent to €24.50, Statoil gained 1.5 percent to NKr151.50, and Norsk Hydro was up 1.4 percent to NKr662.

In European equities markets, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed at 1,179.31 on Friday, down just slightly on the day but up by 1.2 percent for the week.

Automobile manufacturer DaimlerChrysler was one of the big winners of the week, based on a positive quarterly report and the resignation of its unpopular chief executive. The company’s shares were up 12 percent on the week to €40.04.

Elsewhere in the automobile manufacturing sector, Fiat announced on Thursday that its profits had nearly doubled in the second quarter, gaining 2.9 percent on the week to close on Friday at €7.01.

Volkswagen also had a better-than-anticipated quarterly result, sending its shares up 2.2 percent on the day and up 6.2 percent for the week, for a closing quote on Friday of €44.82.

Daimler’s 9 percent rise on Thursday spurred Deutsche Bank to sell its 3.5 percent share of the company on the same day it released its own quarterly report and announced a huge share buyback. Deutsche Bank ended the week at €71.02, up 0.6 percent.

Less successful on the week were the chipmakers. STMicroelectronics released their second-quarter report on Wednesday, showing net profits down by 82 percent because of slow sales and restructuring costs and losing 3.3 percent for the week to €14.22.

Infineon reported disappointing results as well this week, sending shares down 3.8 percent to €8.11 and earning downgrades from several ratings agencies.

In Tokyo on Friday the Nikkei 225 found itself at yet another four month high at the close on a combination of hopeful economic data, including the best jobs-to-applicants figures in over 10 years, good quarterly earnings reports, and strong results on the day from several companies.

Even so, the market’s overall rise was held back by other earnings results that were not as strong as others. The Nikkei was up 0.35 on the day to 11,899.60, while the Topix index gained 0.3 percent to 1,204.98.

Matsushita Electrical Industrial was up 5 percent to ¥1,832 on a more positive quarterly earnings report than had been expected.

Sony, however, fell 3.6 percent on a weak quarterly report and a full-year forecast that was cut by over 80 percent. Sony blamed weak sales and price declines in its television division for the unfavorable report.

Electronic parts manufacturer Kyocera lost 3.4 percent to ¥7,930 on a report of a 61 percent decline in quarterly profits. UBS subsequently downgraded Kyocera to “Neutral 2”.

Cosmetics manufacturer Shiseido, Japan’s largest, gained 8.3 percent to ¥1,532 on a quarterly report that showed the company returning to profits.

The company gave credit for the improvement to good sales in Japan and China and upgraded its full-year profit forecast by 35 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent to 1,173.83 on a group of new quarterly results after having risen to 1,174.86 earlier in the day.

UCB, the Belgian pharmaceutical company, reported positive results from trials of the drug Cimzia in the treatment of Crohn’s disease, a disorder of the digestive tract. This result sent shares in UCB up 7 percent to €44.30.

In the technology sector, STMicroelectronics reported that its second quarter profits were down by 82 percent on weak sales and high restructuring costs. The report sent shares in the company down 2.6 percent to €14.38.

Others in the sector didn’t do any better on the day as Infineon was down 2.9 percent to €8.11 and ASML Holding lost 1.7 percent to €14.38. Nokia had a good day, however, gaining 1.6 percent to €13.10.

European aerospace and defense group EADS reported €1.54 billion in first-half core earnings, a jump of 57 percent. Shares were up 3.3 percent to €27.65. EADS also raised its per share earnings target for the year from €1.36 to €1.5.

Also reporting quarterly earnings was DSM, the Dutch chemicals group. It said its quarterly profits rose 43 percent to €217 million on lower costs, higher margins, and a strategic acquisition. Shares in DSM were up 2.5 percent on the day to €62.35.

Positive earnings reports failed to produce much movement on Wall Street Tuesday as investors chose to wait for several key economic reports due to be released later in the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 percent to 10,579.77, but the Nasdaq composite gained 0.4 percent to 2,175.99 and the S&P 500 was up 0.4 percent to 1,231.16.

Texas Instruments reported greater than expected second quarter earnings, up 32 cents per share as opposed to a forecast of a 29 cent per share charge advance. TI also raised its quarterly dividend by 20 percent to 3 cents per share and announced that it would buy back $2 billion more in shares. That sent shares in TI up by 5.6 percent on the day.

Advanced technology and phone service provider Avaya also reported positive quarterly results, saying that earnings had more than tripled to 40 cents per share, much better than the 13 cents per share it had achieved last year at the same time. Shares in Avaya gained 16.4 percent on the day to $10.74.

McGraw Hill reported that second quarter earnings were up 18 percent to 51 cents per share, mostly on the success of its financial services component, which provided over 80 percent of operating profits. Shares gained 4.7 percent on the day to $46.53.

DuPont, a division of Dow, announced that net income in the second quarter had more than doubled compared to last year at the same time, but the news did not prevent DuPont’s shares from losing 6.6 percent to $41.15.

The equity markets in Tokyo were down slightly on Tuesday as investors were uncertain of the outcome of six-party talks with North Korea and as there were few new quarterly reports to respond to.

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.21 percent to 11,737.96, while the Topix index fell 0.11 percent to 1,189.01 as gains in the automobile and microchips sectors were overcome by declines in the financial sector and in other parts of the technology sector.

Strong quarterly earnings by US company Texas Instruments sent shares in the semiconductor sector up as Goldman Sachs hiked its ratings for major chipmakers.

Advantest, which is the largest manufacturer of semiconductor testing devices in the world, was up 2.9 percent to ¥8,490, while the world’s second largest manufacturer of chip-making equipment, Tokyo Electron, gained 2.6 percent to ¥5,950.

In the automobile sector, Toyota was up 0.2 percent to ¥4,170 and Honda gained 0.2 percent as well, to ¥5,610 as the chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said that the industry would realize benefits from China’s revaluation of the renminbi.

In the technology sector, Canon was down 0.8 percent to ¥5,980, Sony fell 0.5 percent to ¥3,820, and Toshiba declined by 0.2 percent to ¥437. Sony’s shares especially were hit by the results of a survey of brand perception that had it falling from first to fourth place since last year. It was replaced by Microsoft.

Meanwhile, Oki Electric, a telecommunications equipment maker, was off by 4.5 percent to ¥359 on the news that it would post an operating loss of ¥3 billion in the six-month period ending in September. Shares in securities firms were anywhere from 0.3 percent to 1 percent lower on the day.

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 lost 0.3 percent to 1,160.62. The electronics sector had a bad day as Infineon was down 1 percent to €8.33 on news that one of its executives had been forced to resign amid accusations of corruption.

STMicroelectronics fell 1.6 percent to *14.53. Dutch firm Philips declined by 2.6 percent to €22.07 on a report that its second quarter profits were down by over one-half.

The automobile sector saw gains, however, as Fiat gained 1.1 percent to €6.50, while Porsche advanced by 2.4 percent to €673.50 as it announced its best first-half results ever. The Greek Athens General Index had a much better day, rising 1.7 percent to 3,171.55.

Gaming group Opap was up 4.8 percent to €22.50 after the government announced a sale of 52.45 million shares, 16.44 percent of the company, at €24.14 each.

Meanwhile, telecommunications company OTE gained 2.5 percent to €16.26 on news that the company, which is mostly owned by the Greek government, is getting ready to sell 13 percent of its shares, 9 percent of which will be publicly offered, with the remaining 4 percent being placed with OTE’s pension fund.

In Europe on Thursday, the Eurofirst 300 reached yet another 3-year high at the close, led by the technology, steel, and automobile sectors.

The pan-European index closed 0.51 percent higher at 1.165.43, having reached 1,170.34 earlier in the day.

Meanwhile in France, the CAC-40, open despite the Bastille Day holiday reached a 38-month closing high, finishing the day up 0.63 percent at 4,370.88.

Steelmakers, which suffered from a series of downgrades on Tuesday, recovered on Thursday as the sector hoped that the worst was over.

Arcelor gained 2.4 percent to €16.86, and ThyssenKrupp advanced 2.8 percent to €14.71.

Technology stocks gained on better-than-expected quarterly earnings reports from American companies AMD and Apple Computer.

Infineon was up 3.6 percent to €8.39, Phillips Electronics gained 1.4 percent to €22.68, and ASML advanced 1.7 percent to €14.24.

STMicroelectronics was up 2.9 percent to €14.80, also benefiting from rumors of joint venture talks with South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor.

In the auto sector, Daimler Chrysler gained 1.7 percent to €34.64, while Renault was up 2 percent to €75.55.

The FTSE Eurofirst 500 closed at another three-year high on Wednesday as it rose 0.6 percent to 1,159.54.

The information technology sector and oil stocks were both up on the day. The success of the information technology sector, which was up 1.6 percent on the day, helped chip making equipment manufacturer ASML win back losses that had come with the news that its order’s have been below predictions. AMSL gained 2.2 percent to €14. In oil stocks, Spain’s Cepsa gained 3.5 percent to €41.09, while Statoil gained 1.2 percent to NKr146.

Results from the retail sector were not as positive. Shares in Carrefour, the world’s second-biggest retailer, were down 2.4 percent to €39.05 on a report of slow sales in the second quarter. UBS cut its price target on the retailer’s stock from €42 to €38, explaining its action by saying that there is no evidence that sales will recover. Morgan Stanley, however, kept its rating for Carrefour at “overweight”.

Other retailers also lost ground, with Casino Guichard losing 2.6 percent to €57.05, while PPR was down 1.4 percent to €83.60.

In New York on Tuesday, the equities markets all finished in positive territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1 percent to 10,405.63, the S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent to 1,201.57, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.2 percent to 2,069.89.

Factors spurring the advances included a decline in crude oil prices, news that the consumer confidence index and reached a 3-year high, and improvements in the labor market.

Airlines tended to show gains on the news that oil prices were declining. Delta Air Lines advanced 12.8 percent to $3.97, AMR gained 9.3 percent to $12.3, and Air Tran Holdings was up 6.1 percent to $9.47.

Some energy stocks fell as investors interpreted lower oil prices as a threat to profits. Amerada Hess was down 3.8 percent to $106.26, while Marathon Oil lost 2.9 percent to $53.96.

The technology sector got more than its share of attention on the equities markets on Tuesday as Advanced Micro Devices announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Intel.

The suit charges that Intel forced clients to buy their chips rather than AMD’s product.

While two investigations by the US Federal Trade Commission have been closed without finding any wrongdoing on Intel‘s part, AMD has filed a complaint of anti-competitive practices by Intel to the European Commission.

A ruling by the Fair Trade Commission in Japan found that Intel had violated anti-trust laws when it offered rebates to five Japanese companies if they would limit purchases of chips made by AMD.

After news of the lawsuit was released, AMD’s shares gained 6.3 percent to $17.70, and Intel’s stock were up by 1.8 percent to $26.33.

Higher crude oil prices were hard on European equities on Monday.

Among the sectors seeing losses were airlines and automobile manufacturers. Technology stocks were also down.

Among airlines, Lufthansa was down by 1.8 percent to €9.98, Air France-KLM declined by 2.7 percent to €12.29, and Ryanair lost 1.2 percent to €6.39.

Among car makers, Peugeot was down 0.7 percent to €48.05, Daimler-Chrysler lost 1.2 percent to €33.51, Fiat fell 3.4 percent to €5.834, and Renault declined by 1.3 percent to €70.50.

Porsche, however, managed to gain 0.4 percent to €611.39 as Merrill Lynch raised the automaker’s share price target to €700 from €615.

In the technology sector, Siemens was down 1.7 percent to €60.80 on suggestions that even though it has sold its loss-plagued mobile phones unit, it was still not approaching profit targets.

Infineon, a supplier for Siemens, also declined on the news, losing 0.9 percent to €7.58.

STMicrolectronics was down 2.2 percent to €12.93, Philips lost 1.6 percent to €20.92, and ASML fell 1.3 percent to €13.30.

All this combined to send the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1 percent to 1,130.

In Frankfurt, meanwhile, even the first increase in German business confidence in four months could not lift the Xetra Dax into positive territory as it fell 0.9 percent to 4,523.82.

In Tokyo, markets were mixed on Thursday as the Nikkei index was down 0.1 percent, while the Topix index was up 0.1 percent.

Consumer electronics were mostly up, but retailers were generally down amid the concerns of investor concerns over restructuring.

The markets did better in the West, however: in Europe, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.3 percent, as the energy sector performed well.

The London markets were up as well, for the third day in a row. The FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent and the FTSE 250- was up 0.3 percent.

One factor was a decision by the Bank of England to leave interest rates at their present level.

Rumors that Shell might acquire Woodside, an Australian oil and gas company was also seen as good news.

Shell already owns 34 percent of Woodside, so a deal was considered possible.

The U.S. markets saw gains at midday despite bad news from the pharmaceuticals industry - Merck was down 0.9 percent and Pfizer was down 1.6 percent over more concerns over risks associated with their arthritis drugs.

Crude oil prices were also up. Still, at midday the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 were both up 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 0.5 percent, all on light trading.