Both the FTSE 100 and the FTSE 250 were lower in London on Tuesday as the online gaming sector saw further losses. Also affecting investor sentiment was a report that inflation in the UK was up more than had been expected, which could in turn lead to a hike in interest rates from the Bank of England.

The 100 was 0.3 percent lower on the session to 5,681.7, bringing its losses to 3 percent in the past four days. Meanwhile, the 250 dropped 0.5 percent to 8,968.8.

The utilities sector had a good day, however. Kelda Group gained 4.2 percent to 844p on bids rumors. Kelda has added 7.1 percent in three sessions. Severn Trent was up 2.2 percent to £12.21, while Pennon Group advanced by 2.1 percent to £13.99. United Utilities added 1.7 percent to 637p on an upgrade to “buy” from Dresdner Kleinwort. Scottish & Southern was up 1.6 percent to £11.66.

Also seeing an advance was British American Tobacco, up 1.5 percent to £13.70 on a “buy” recommendation from JP Morgan.

BSkyB was down 4.3 percent to 517½p as investors worried about the satellite broadcaster’s plan to spend £400 million on its new broadband offering.

The online gaming sector was hit hard by the news that a grand jury in the United States had field charges against BetOnSports. Traing in BetOnSports shares was suspended at 122½p. 888 Holdings dropped 12.7 percent to 168½p, while PartyGaming fell 17.2 percent to 85¼p, SportingBet declined 35.5 percent to 182p, and World Gaming was down 38 percent to 69½p.

The London equities markets were lower on Monday, primarily due to declines in the mining sector. The losses were tempered somewhat late in the day, following a rally in the New York markets. The FTSE 100 ended up just 0.12 percent lower at 5,701, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.65 percent to 9,017.1. Volume was again low, with only 2.4 billion shares traded.

Another sector that saw substantial losses was online gaming. 888 Holdings was down 3.5 percent to 193. PartyGaming dropped 5.5 percent to 103p, while SportingBet fell 13 percent to 282p and BetOnSports declined by 15.6 percent to 122½p. A major reason for the declines in this sector was the detention by US authorities of David Carruthers, chief executive of BetOnSports.

Among miners, BHP Billiton was down 1 percent to £10.10, while Rio Tinto dropped 1.8 percent to £26.76. Anglo American fell 1.3 percent to £12.07 on a steep drop in the price of gold. A similar decline in the price of copper sent Kazakhmys 2.9 percent lower to £11.56 and Antofagasta was down 3.3 percent to 405p. Copper prices dropped when a six-week strike by mine workers in Mexico was ended. Xstrata was 3.7 percent lower to £19.86 as investors worried that it might submit a higher bid for Falconbridge, the Canadian nickel producer.

Elsewhere, BSkyB added 1.5 percent to 541p on a reiteration UBS “buy” recommendation as the pay-TV operator readied the launch of internet broadband.

The London equities markets ended lower on the day Thursday on sell-offs in the mining sector and declines in oil as crude prices fell. The FTSE 100 was down 0.73 percent to 6,060 and the FTSE 250 dropped 0.72 percent to 9,925.6.

Some of the biggest gainers on the day were in the online gaming sector. The advances came after the American Gaming Association recommended that the US Congress undertake a one-year study to determine whether it would be better to legalize and regulate online gambling rather than to try and outlaw it. The significance of the recommendation, according to some analysts, is that this was the first indication that the AGA would support online gaming.

BetOnSpsorts was up 5.2 percent to 169p, PartyGaming added 4.6 percent to 152¾p, 888 Holdings gained 2.95 percent to 244p, and Sportingbet rose by 2.4 percent to 431p.

In the banking sector, Lloyds TSB was up 0.2 percent to 533p after ABN Amro reiterated its “trading buy” recommendation on the bank, saying that the same factors that allowed it to add 9 percent to revenues in the last half of last year were still operative presently.

Miners lost ground on the news that China had increased interest rates. Antofagasta dropped 4.4 percent to £23.58, while Anglo-American was down 3.4 percent to £23.34 and Xstrata declined by 3.2 percent to £20.15.

In the oil sector, meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell’s B shares were down 2.2 percent to £19.93, BP dropped 2 percent to 683½p, and Cairn Energy was off 1.5 percent to £23.57. Besides the decline in crude oil prices, the news from China on interest rates was also a factor in the sector’s retreat.