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.

London equities markets were down on Thursday as the FTSE 100 lost 22.8 points to 5,849.3 and the FTSE 250 dropped 9.5 points to 9.462.7. Much of the declines could be attributed to losses by Reuters and weakness in the oil sector.

Reuters was down 10.1 percent to 405¾p despite revenue and profits reports that were about as expected.

Some retailers saw gains on the day. Beauty products retailer Body Shop was up 12.2 percent to 275p on a confirmation of the report that French group L’Oreal is thinking of bidding for the company, even though no firm offer has yet been made. Home furnishing and fashion retailer Laura Ashley, meanwhile, advanced by 12.9 percent to 17½p on an announcement that full-year profits will be higher than had been forecast.

Otherwise, the markets saw a series of declines on the day. In the telecommunications sector, Colt Telecom dropped 5.4 percent to 61½p after it announced a new share offering to raise equity. Investec repeated its “sell” recommendation on the company’s shares and analysts questioned the need and timing for the new offering. Meanwhile, telecommunications testing equipment firm Spirent declined by 2.9 percent to 51.3p after it announced that its full-year pre-tax profit was £4.9 million, much lower than the figure of £15.4 million from the previous year.

Defense contractor BAE Systems dropped 2.2 percent on the day to 437½p on concern over problems with its pension plan.

Utility Centrica dropped 1.1 percent to 293p after the parent company of British Gas reported its annual earnings were down 4 percent due to higher interest and tax bills. It said that it could not guarantee that gas prices would not go up.