The equities markets in London saw gains on Thursday, with the FTSE 100 adding 1.1 percent to 5,890 and the FTSE 250 up 0.4 percent to 9,461.6 on a volume of 2.6 billion shares.

Of the total number of shares traded, 93 million belonged to foods manufacturer RHM. The shares, 26.6 percent of the company, were sold at 266p per share. RHM ended the session 2.2 percent higher at 274½p.

In the banking sector, Northern Rock added 2.1 percent to £10.53 after Merrill Lynch advised its clients to buy Northern Rock and to sell Alliance & Leicester after Credit Agricole decided not to offer for A&L. A&L dropped 2.7 percent to £10.55.

Rentokil Initial added 2.7 percent to 159½p on talk that a private equity group has bid 185p per share for the pest control company.

In the tobacco sector, British American Tobacco was up 2.6 percent to £14.16 after the Florida Supreme Court confirmed a lower court ruling that threw out a damage award to $145 billion (£79 billion) against the US tobacco industry. BAT owns 42 percent of US cigarette manufacturer Reynolds American.

Retailer Woolworths added 5.6 percent to 33p as Morgan Stanley began coverage with an “overweight” recommendation and a target share price of 38p.

Activity in the telecommunications sector helped send London equities markets higher on Monday. The FTSE 100 was up 0.6 percent to 5,897.8, the highest it has closed in nearly five years. Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 advanced by 0.8 percent to an all-time high close of 9,546.0.

Both Vodafone and BT Group were up on the news that AT&T has made a $67 billion bid for BellSouth. This move in the US highlighted mergers and acquisitions activity in the UK and spurred hopes of further activity.

Vodafone was up 2.9 percent to 125p on the proposed sale of its Japanese division, which has not been performing to expectations, to Tokyo-based SoftBank, and on speculation that Vodafone would also sell its 45 percent stake in US company Verizon Wireless, even though most analysts felt that the sale of the Verizon shares was unlikely. BT Group added 5.1 percent to 231¾p.

Elsewhere in the sector, Colt Telecom was up 6.9 percent to 69¾p, Cable and Wireless gained 0.5 percent to 108p on rumors that it was being targeted by Thus Group, which was even at 15½p.

In the tobacco sector, BAT gained 2.5 percent to £14.43 on an upgrade from Citigroup.

In the retail sector, Matalin gained 3.8 percent to 198p on a report that its founder and chairman was talking to private equity buyers about selling his majority stake in the company. MFI Furniture was up 4.1 percent to 94¼p, also on interest from private equity groups. Home shopper N Brown gained 8.4 percent on the day to 214p.

The FTSE 100 had its worst day since last October while the FTSE 250 was also down on the day. The FTSE 100 lost 1.4 percent to 5,791.5 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.6 percent to 9,448.3.

The banking sector was mixed. Royal Bank of Scotland was up 2.7 percent to £19.09 when it announced that it would return £1 billion to shareholders in a buy-back rather than spend the money on a major acquisition. However Alliance & Leicester dropped 5 percent to £10.69 on investor displeasure over its full-year report, issued Monday.

Among gainers on the day was media group Emap gained 3.5 percent to 91¾p, its highest share price in several years, on the news that it will sell its French consumer titles and return part of the money to shareholders. Tobacco company BAT was up 2.3 percent to £13.59, its highest share price ever, on a strong full-year report. Oil and gas group Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping advanced 18.3 percent to 103½p.

Other companies in the oil and gas sector did not fare so well on the day. CDS Oil & Gas dropped 19.4 percent to 6.25p on the news that its first test well for its Chaco Basin project in Paraguay did not produce the expected results. Elixir Petroleum, listed on Aim, was down 42.9 percent to 26¼p when it announced that explorations in the North Sea had failed to find commercially exploitable hydrocarbons.

The London equities markets saw little movement as a whole on Tuesday as the FTSE 100 was down by only 0.1 percent and the FTSE 250 fell fractionally to 7,891.9 on a volume of 2.5 billion shares traded.

Before its decline, the FTSE 100 hit a 4-year high of 5,471.2 earlier in the day, but losses in New York helped the early gains disappear.

BAT was the biggest loser on the FTSE 100, dropping 2.3 percent to £11.77 as investors waited to see if the Canadian Supreme Court would allow a suit worth C$10 billion against the tobacco company to continue.

The energy sector was up, however. BP ended the day up 1 percent to 699½p after reaching an all-time high of 675½p earlier on an upgrade from “neutral” to “overweight” from JP Morgan. BG Group gained 0.7 percent to 534½p.

Among oil explorers, Burren Energy rose 2.7 percent to 846p on an initial “buy” recommendation from Merrill Lynch. Tullow Oil gained 2.5 percent to 254p.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Alliance Unichem led all bluechips as it gained 3.5 percent to 870p on rumors of forthcoming bids.

Meanwhile, O2 was up 1.6 percent to 155½p on an increased revenue guidance for its main operations in the UK and an upwardly revised full-year earnings guidance on its German unit. O2 shares hit an all-time high of 157½p earlier in the day.