In London on Tuesday, equities markets saw substantial declines as a result of sell-offs that have been blamed directly on comments by the chairman of the US Federal Reserve on Monday. Ben Bernanke’s comments were widely interpreted as indicating that there is a high likelihood that US interest rates will go higher soon.

The FTSE 100 dropped 1.6 percent on the day to 5,669.8, while the FTSE 250 declined by 3 percent to 9,075.2. Volume was at 3.1 billion shares traded on the day.

Only six stocks on the 100 managed to end the day in positive territory. These included BAA, which added 2.1 percent to 948p, with 260 million shares traded, after Spanish construction group Ferrovial bought up 13.9 percent of the company’s shares.

Both indexes were hurt by declines in mining stocks as investors worried that commodity demand will slow if the Fed raises US interest rates further. On the 100, Xstrata dropped 5.8 percent to £19.39, BHP Billiton was down 4.5 percent to 992½p, and Antofagasta lost 4.4 percent to £19.59. Among the mid-cap miners, Vedanta declined by 8.9 percent to £12.85, while Lonmin fell 5.9 percent to £24.13. Despite these declines, both Vedanta and Lonmin are expected to be placed on the 100 soon.

London’s equities markets came back from Monday’s holiday to major losses. The FTSE 100 declined by 2.4 percent to 5,652.0 while the FTSE 250 lost 2.9 percent to 9,235.5.

Shares in companies that depend on the US dollar for a large part of their earnings were especially vulnerable as the greenback continued to weaken. Among those losers were asset manager Amvescap, which declined by 4.2 percent to 408p; plumbers Wolseley, down 5 percent to £12.02; and building materials group Hanson, which lost 5.6 percent to 642p.

The insurance sector also saw losses. Prudential was down 4.3 percent to 576½p, while Old Mutual declined by 4.9 percent to 163½p.

Miners were down on the day even though metals prices were relatively stable. Copper miner Kazakhmys had the worst of it, dropping 4.6 percent to £10.85.

Gainers on the day included airport operators BAA, which added 6.4 percent to 873p after it said it had rejected a 900p per share offer from Spanish construction company Grupo Ferrovial. Amid mid-cap gainers was EMI Group, which was up 1.3 percent to 273¼p on rumors that US music group Warner Music might bid for the UK music company. In addition, Morgan Stanley upgraded EMI from “underweight” to “equalweight”.

London’s equities markets were up on the day Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 1.6 percent to 5,677.7 and the FTSE 250 gained 1.5 percent to 9,190.5.

The telecoms sector was mixed on the day. BT Group added 1.45 percent to 226¾p on rumors that Deutsche Telecom is thinking about proffering a bid. The rumor, reported by a German business magazine, was considered possible by many analysts. Elsewhere in the sector, Vodafone was up 3.5 percent to 118p on a “buy” recommendation from Credit Suisse. Cable & Wireless, however, dropped 2.5 percent to 97½p after it issued a disappointing full-year report and a cancellation of its announced share buyback.

PartyGaming was up 0.8 percent to 123¾p, but analysts believe that shares in the online gaming business will open 3 to 4 percent lower tomorrow, taking into account that just before the close of the trading day the US House Judiciary Committee approved legislation outlawing online gambling in the United States, sending the bill on to the full house for a vote.

Airports operator BAA dropped 5.6 percent to 787½p on news that the Office of Fair Trading will investigate the UK airport industry to determine whether the current structure of the market works to the advantage of consumers.

Gainers included pub operator Mitchells & Butlers, up 3.7 percent to 499¼p when stake building rumors by Robert Tchenguiz continued to circulate.

The mining sector also saw gains as metals prices rebounded. Kazakhmys added 5.4 percent to £10.76, while Antofagasta gained 3.6 percent to £20.68.

In London on Friday, the FTSE 100 broke the 6,000 level for the first time in five years, rising to 6,044.0 at one point in the day before easing back to close at 5,999.4, up 0.1 percent higher on the day and 1.6 percent higher for the week. The FTSE 250 closed at another all-time high on Friday, gaining 0.3 percent on the day and 4.4 percent on the week to close at 9,845.9.

Bid rumors and actual deals drove the equities markets during the week. Vodafone ended the day down 0.9 percent to 129p even though it reached agreement to sell it’s Japanese unit to Softbank for £8.9 billion. Body Shop, conversely, gained 10.4 percent to 296p on news that it had made a deal with L’Oreal.

Prudential gained 7.1 percent to 672p. The insurer is seen as a bid target for both Axa of France and Aviva. Aviva was up 2.8 percent to 850½p. Another bid target, banker Lloyds TSB, was up 1.1 percent to 551p after new rumors that a US company is interested.

Airport operator BAA dropped 1.2 percent to 828½p after it rejected a bid of 810p per share from Spain’s Grupo Ferrovial.

In the utilities sector, BG Group gained 1.4 percent to 700½p as rumor had a bid coming soon to the gas company.

Bid rumors took the London equities markets higher on the day on Monday, as the FTSE 100 closed at 5,952.8, a gain of 0.8 percent and very near a five-year high. The FTSE 250 was also up on the day, by 1.7 percent to 9,591.8. Volume for the day was 3.5 billion shares traded.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone gained 4 percent to 129¾p. Depending on who was talking, the gain came either on an approach from a group of private equity companies or an informal bid from Verizon to purchase Vodafone’s 45 percent stake in Verizon wireless.

In metals, platinum miner Lonmin gained 8.6 percent to £24.54 as rumors continued that Russia’s largest gold miner, Polyus Gold, was thinking of offering for the company.

Airports operator BAA was up 2 percent to 830p on a report that Australian company Macquarie was interested in bidding for the company and was in talks with other companies on a possible joint offer.

In the mergers and acquisitions rumor gaining the most attention, the London Stock Exchange gained 30.6 percent to £11.49 on the possibility that Nasdaq’s offer for the LSE on Friday evening could be the start of a bidding war between Nasdaq and the NYSE group for the London exchange.

Elsewhere, pharmaceuticals group AstraZeneca was up 2.3 percent to £29.45 on positive test results for the company’s anti-cholestrol drug, Crestor. Sinclair Pharma was also up on the day, by 6.9 percent to 136p on the news that it had lowered its operating losses in 2005 and that it has raised the money to bid for French pharmaceutical company Groupe CS Dermatologie.

London’s equities markets were mixed this week, with the FTSE 100 up 0.8 percent but the FTSE 250 sliding 0.4 percent over the five sessions. However, both indices were up on Friday, with the FTSE 100 gaining 0.9 percent on the day to 5,907.9 and the FTSE 250 up 0.5 percent to 9,430.1 on a volume of 3 billion shares traded. It was the first time the 100 had closed above the 5,900 mark in almost five years.

Bid talk drove much of the movement in individual companies. Cairn Energy was up 2.3 percent higher on the day to £19.15 on hopes that India’s ONGC would make a bid for Cairn’s assets there. Conversely, doubts that a private equity group would bid for BT sent the telecommunication company’s shares down 1.3 percent to 224½p.

Airports operator BAA gained 5 percent to 814p on new rumors that Ferrovial would bid for it after all, just a day after it suffered losses when it seemed that the Spanish company had decided not to make a bid, even though it had said earlier that it was interested.

Anglo American ended the day 0.3 percent higher to £19.78 despite earlier losses after Morgan Stanley cut the miner’s rating to “underweight” from “overweight”.

The banking sector saw gains on lessened concerns over inflation. Lloyds TSB was up 0.9 percent to 535½p, while Barclay’s gained 2.1 percent to 660½p.

In London on Thursday, equities markets bounced back after Wednesday’s losses as the FTSE 100 gained 0.7 percent to 5,855.9 and the FTSE 250 was up 0.8 percent to 9,381.1.

The pharmaceuticals sector provided a positive influence as AstraZeneca rose 4.4 percent to £28.32 on talk that Swiss company Novartis is thinking of bidding for the company. GlaxoSmithKline also was up on the day, by 1.5 percent to £15.59, on an upgrade to “buy” from Deutsche Bank and on the news that it has filed for European approval for Cervarix, its vaccine against cervical cancer.

The supermarket sector was mixed. Tesco dropped 0.9 percent to 329p, largely due to the fact that as the largest company in the sector it has the most to lose in a government probe into the sector’s competitive practices. Elsewhere in the sector, however, J Sainsbury gained 0.6 percent to 319½p, while Wm Morrison added 1.2 percent to 207p.

Music and book retailer HMV was up 5.4 percent to 192p on rumors that private equity group Permira has upped its bid for the company.

British Airways was up 3.8 percent to 328½p on the news that it plans to save £450 million over two years.

Airport operator BAA was down by 6.7 percent to 775p on rumors that Spanish construction company Grupo Ferrovial is having second thoughts about its plans to bid for the owner of Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. Ferrovial insists that its plans have not changed.

The London equities markets were down on Wednesday. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.5 percent to 5,725.1, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.1 percent to 9,240.7 on a trading volume of 3.6 billion shares.

Mining stocks were down on the day as metals prices continued to decline. Kazakhmys fell 3.8 percent to 819 ½p. Rio Tinto dropped 2.6 percent to £27.81. Antofagasta declined 3.2 percent to £20.13. Anglo-American was down not only on falling metals prices but also on a ratings cut from Citigroup, slipping from “buy” to “hold. Anglo-American fell 3.6 percent to £20.12.

Also down on the day was budget airline EasyJet, which fell 0.2 percent to 376 ½p even though the airline’s chief executive bought 134,000 shares at 374.17p each during the day.

Elsewhere, things seemed to be a bit better. Airport operator BAA gained 14.9 percent to 172 ½p when it was announced that Groupo Ferrovial of Spain was thinking about offering for the company. BAA said that it had not yet received an official bid.

GlaxoSmithKline gained 0.9 percent to £14.75 in anticipation of the pharmaceutical company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings reports, which are due soon.

Household goods group Reckitt Benckiser was up on Tuesday’s release of a full-year earnings report that had overall earnings in line with predictions and margins, earnings, and cash flow metrics had all exceeded expectations. The company’s shares rose 2.2 percent on the day to £19.78.