In London on Wednesday, the London equities markets continued to rally, with the FTSE 100 closing up 0.7 percent to 6,044.1, it’s highest close since February 2001. The FTSE 250, meanwhile, ended the day up 0.4 percent to 9,935.0, its highest close ever.

The telecommunications sector saw gains, with Vodafone up 1.5 percent to 190¼p as rumors continued to circulate that the company has nearly closed a deal with Verizon Communications to sell its shares in Verizon Wireless. Verizon discounted the speculation. Elsewhere in the sector, Cable & Wireless added 0.5 percent to 107¼p.

In the mining sector, Xstrata added 2.5 percent to £19.88 as it was reported that Campanhia Vale do Rio Doce, the largest mining company in the Americas, wanted to make a deal for the company. Another company said to be interested in Xstrata, Anglo American, gained 2 percent to £23.74. Merrill Lynch upgrades helped other miners. Rio Tinto was up 3 percent to £31.35, while BHP Billiton added 2.2 percent to £11.47. Still in the metals mining area, Johnson Matthey was up 2.4 percent to £14.40 on an upgrade from Citigroup. Aquarius Platinum advanced by 6.7 percent to 865p and Lonmin gained 2.9 percent to £28.02.

In the oil sector, BP added 1.6 percent to 675p.

Brewer Scottish & Newcastle was up 5.2 percent to 544p as rumors had several rivals considering takeover bids. One of the companies said to be interested is SAB Miller, which was down 0.9 percent on the day to £11.34.

In London on Thursday, the FTSE 100 again rose above the 6,000 level to close at 6,015.2, a gain of 0.9 percent that allowed the index to finish recouping the 100 points it lost earlier in the week. The FTSE 250 was also up on the day, gaining 0.4 percent to 9,855.1. Trading volume was at 3.2 billion shares.

Mining stocks played a big part in the day’s gains as Kazakhmys reported in its full-year earnings results that rising copper prices allowed its profits to rise by 53.2 percent, sending its shares up 9.3 percent on the day to £10.42. These results helped out the rest of the sector, with some miners finding record high share prices. Rio Tinto added 5.3 percent to close at a record £29.81. Xstrata also recorded a new high share prices of £18.92, a gain of 4.9 percent on the day. Antofagasta, also helped by rising copper prices, was up 5 percent to £21.60.

Mid-cap miners were also up. Randgold advanced by 7.4 percent to £10.44, while Aquarius Platinum gained 2.2 percent to 797½p. Vedanta Resources gained 7.1 percent to £13.76 had some saying that it might be picked up by the FTSE 100 in June.

Banks were up as well, as bid rumors continued to make the rounds. Alliance & Leicester added 2.3 percent to £12.17 on a report that Credit Agricole’s informal approach had been rejected as A&L looked for a higher bid. Spanish bank Banco Santander Central has also been said to be interested. Meanwhile, Royal Bank of Scotland gained 2.3 percent as well, to £18.95, as talk continued that it could soon attract a bid.

Among decliners on the day were the London Stock Exchange, which lost 6.8 percent when Nasdaq withdrew its bid for the exchange, saying that the LSE’s stock was overpriced in hopes of triggering a bidding war. Also down was William Morrison Supermarkets, losing 0.8 percent to 192½p on the news that the company’s chairman had sold 227,000 shares on 24 March, taking his stake in the company down to about 10.1 percent.

The London equities markets ended the day and the week at high levels on Friday, as the mining, banking, and energy sectors saw gains but retail and newspapers were hit by declines.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent on the day and 1.4 percent on the week to 5,846.2, its highest closing since June 2001. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 closed at an all-time high of 9,472.8, up 1.1 percent on the day and 1.6 percent on the week.

Mining stocks advanced on the news of a possible bid for Lonmin, the world’s third-largest platinum producer. A number of companies were considered possible bidders for the £3.8 billion company. Lonmin was up 24.8 percent on the news to £26.71. Other platinum miners were also up, with Aquarius Platinum gaining 14.8 percent to 700p and African Platinum rising 16.3 percent to 25p. Even non-platinum miners benefited, as Anglo American rose 6.1 percent to £21.45.

In the energy sector, Urals Energy gained 20 percent to 360p on an initial Morgan Stanley rating of “overweight” and a price target of 413p. Elsewhere, Empyrean Energy was up 18 percent to 137½p.

Rumors that Bradford & Bingley was readying a bid for Northern Rock sent shares in both firms. Northern Rock shares were up to £12.07 at one point, but settled at £11.50, a gain of 4.6 percent. Bradford & Bingley gained 2.8 percent to 461½p.

Shares in newspapers lost ground after Daily Mail & General Trust said it would not sell its Northcliffe regional news division. The Daily Mail dropped 12.5 percent to 652p. The announcement also affected others in the sector, with Johnston Press declining 6.4 percent to 457 p, while Trinity Mirror dropped 2.9 percent to 603p.

Investec reduced its rating of retailer Marks & Spencer to “hold” from “buy”, warning that sales, especially clothing sales, has fallen off significantly since Christmas. As a result, Marks & Spencer fell 1.3 percent to 507½p.